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Credit: Thomas Hawk, FlickrDisney CEO Bob Iger is having a really bad year of writer and actor strikes, flop after flop bombing in theaters, and inciting panic in his own company after months of sudden layoffs, department closures, and skyrocketing costs. Now, Hollywood might finally have had enough of Iger coming out of retirement to try to lead the Walt Disney Company.
Unusually, Bob Iger has had two stints as Disney CEO, first succeeding Michael Eisner in 2005 and handing the reins over to Bob Chapek in 2021. That period is widely recognized as one of Disney’s most successful; Mr Iger vastly expanded Disney Parks around the world and acquired Marvel Entertainment, Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox, creating one of the most enormous content catalogs in the world.
During his first 16 years as Disney CEO, Bob Iger oversaw the company gaining approximately $200 billion in value and, basically, made Walt Disney proud.
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Bob Iger and Disney in 2023
Things have changed.
Bob Iger became Disney CEO for the second time almost exactly one year ago, when the company’s board of directors abruptly dismissed Bob Chapek and asked Iger to come out of retirement.
At first, hopes were high that Iger would lead the Walt Disney Company to a new Golden Age. What has happened is that the company is still in a vicious legal battle over Walt Disney World with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Disney+ streaming service is losing tens of millions of dollars, Disney Parks guests are increasingly fed up with skyrocketing costs, and Marvel Studios just had its biggest bomb ever.
An Exhausted Disney CEO
In short, 2023 has not been good for Bob Iger, who has been described by insiders as being “overwhelmed” and “exhausted” at running the Walt Disney Company. It doesn’t help that during the recently concluded WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the Disney CEO wound up being the public face (along with Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav) of major studios as working writers and actors fought for pay equity and protections against AI.
Now, it seems that even longtime colleagues in Hollywood have lost faith in Bob Iger.
“He Should Have Stayed in Retirement”
The anniversary of Bob Iger’s return as Disney CEO has caused a reckoning in entertainment, with more and more powerful figures beginning to wish that he had stayed retired.
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Many insiders are increasingly concerned that Iger will only be remembered for this disastrous last year, and not for his nearly two-decade service over a great period for Disney. TD Cowen media analyst Doug Creutz said of the CEO, “If he was thinking about his legacy, he should have stayed in retirement (per LA Times).”
President of Sportscorp Ltd Marc Ganis said, “There used to be a day when Bob Iger and Disney could stabilize the ground beneath them, but that day has come and gone — for the whole industry.”
At this point, Bob Iger is under attack even from his own shareholders, and facing multiple attempts to either seize the board of directors or to take control of Disney from the inside. After a year of this, it does not sound like the Disney CEO has many allies left.
Do you think Bob Iger will be remembered for his past success or only the last year? Tell us your opinions in the comments below!