Credit: CNBCNews broke today that Bob Iger — the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company — would be stepping down from his CEO position. Bob Chapek was immediately named his successor.
Soon after the announcement, in an interview with CNBC, Julia Boorstin brought up how Disney is currently handling the spread or coronavirus in terms of how the epidemic is affecting Disney Parks and Resorts. The illness has spread throughout countries around the world and originated in Wuhan, China. The latest death toll is now over 2,700 worldwide, CNN reports. Because of its widespread affect on China in particular, Disney has made the decision to close Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland indefinitely.
New Disney CEO Bob Chapek weighed in on how he believes Disney has responded to the coronavirus outbreak and whether or not he is concerned about its effect on the parks. Cases of the virus continue to pop up from what seems like nowhere, but in Chapek’s eyes, coronavirus is “a bump in the road” for Disney.
CNBC’s Julia Boorstin: “You until today ran the Parks and Consumer Products division. Two of Disney’s parks are closed right now Hong Kong and Shanghai. I know you oversaw the launch of Shanghai. There is no sign of when these parks will open. Are you concerned about the long term impacts of coronavirus not just on those parks but also potentially on the cruise business that you’ve run?”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek: “The long term health of our business is really a function our consumer demand for unbelievable storytelling and our product. And while this is certainly a bump in the road in terms of the coronavirus we’ll come through this live we’ve come through every other challenge that we’ve had. And that affinity for the brand and our storytelling will way outlast any type of short term blip we have from corona (coronavirus).”
At the time, executive chairman Iger did not comment on the coronavirus outbreak or how he believes it has affected/will affect The Walt Disney Company.
Watch the full CNBC interview with former Disney CEO Bob Iger and new Disney CEO Bob Chapek below:
FULL INTERVIEW: Outgoing Disney CEO Bob Iger and incoming CEO Bob Chapek sit down to talk the media giant's monumental leadership change, the market sell-off and more with @JBoorstin. $DIS https://t.co/ByU4IDHLYt pic.twitter.com/iVbfI6GUp2
— CNBC (@CNBC) February 25, 2020
You can read our most recent coverage on how the Disney Parks continue to be handle coronavirus below:
Learn More: Coronavirus Update: How Disney’s Theme Parks in Asia Continue to be Affected
Inside the Magic continues to closely follow the news of Iger stepping down from his CEO position and Chapek’s recent appointment. We’ll continue to share more stories as news continues to develop.