NEW YORK: Disney announced the resignation of CEO of Disney Bob Chapek and the appointment of previous CEO Bob Iger as his replacement.
Disney, an animated cartoon film pioneer and creator of iconic cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, John Lasseter is an American film and television producer and showman.
A stunning turn of events for one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world, the move took effect right away, according to a statement from Disney. “We thank Bob Chapek for his many years of service to Disney,” said Susan Arnold, chair of Disney’s board.
The board of directors decided that Bob Iger is “uniquely positioned to lead” as the company “enters an increasingly complex period of industry transformation.”
Chapek was CEO for two years, during which time Wall Street was concerned about the company’s rising expenses. This year, Disney’s stock has dropped 41%.
Iger has promised to return as CEO for at least two years, according to the statement. Iger previously led Disney for 15 years, during which the company’s market capitalization got more than doubled.
Iger, who is now 71, had encouraged Chapek to succeed him in 2020, but by early this year, their communication had now finished.
“I am deeply honoured to be asked to lead this extraordinary team once more… through unparalleled, bold storytelling,” Iger said.
Disney acquired Pixar, Lucasfilm Marvel, and 21st Century Fox during Iger’s tenure as CEO. It also launched the Disney+ and ESPN+ streaming services, as well as its first theme park in China, the Shanghai Disney Resort.
Chapek enraged many of Disney’s 200,000 employees earlier this year with his handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, where a Disney theme park is located. The law forbids the teaching of sexual orientation or gender identity to kindergarten through third-grade students in public schools.
Until there was increased internal pressure, Chapek remained silent on the subject. Florida decided to end Disney’s self-governing status in its Orlando theme park in June 2023 as a result of the scandal.
Even as recently as June, Disney’s board of directors signalled its continued support for Chapek, offering him a three-year contract extension. Chapek oversaw a significant increase in Disney’s total revenue for the fiscal year that ended October 1, 2022, to $28.7 billion.
However, costs were also rising rapidly, and Chapek last week announced company-wide cost-cutting measures as well as the possibility of layoffs. Chapek faced difficulties expanding Disney’s streaming services after the company had to deal with significant difficulties brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, he reported a 12.1 million increase in Disney+ subscribers, bringing the global total to 164.2 million. Hulu and ESPN+, both owned by Disney, added one million and 1.5 million subscribers, respectively. However, this was tempered by rising operating losses for streaming services, which nearly doubled to $1.47 billion in the fourth quarter.
Those figures alarmed some Wall Street analysts, as well as the host of CNBC’s “Last week, Jim Cramer of “Mad Money” demanded that Disney fire Chapek and fix the company’s “balance sheet from hell.”
“Disney produced a number of record-breaking films during Iger’s tenure, including Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame.” “the most successful film of all time The studio also created “Frozen” and “Frozen 2,” as well as Marvel’s “Black Panther.”
