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Credit: Inside the MagicDisney CEO Bob Iger may be getting prepared to sell off parts of the company, but according to a powerful media mogul, he’s just not ready yet.
Bob Iger returned to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company (stepping in after the departure of Bob Chapek) in a time of unusual chaos for the House of Mouse.
Among other things, a massive ongoing feud with Florida Governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has spilled over into multiple lawsuits and a multi-million dollar Walt Disney World tax bill, box office grosses for Marvel, Pixar, and Disney films have all been dwindling, and Bob Iger himself has come under heavy criticism for calling striking WGA and SAG-AFTRA members “unrealistic” for asking for job protections.
Related: Four Things Bob Iger Spends His Ridiculous Fortune on Instead of Paying Disney Employees
In the midst of all this, Iger has also been speculated to be prepping multiple parts of the Walt Disney Company to be sold to boost the bottom line.
The Disney CEO already caused chaos in his own company by publicly calling linear TV a “broken business model,” fuelling rumors that he is looking to sell traditional TV outlets like the Disney Channel, ABC, Disney Junior, ESPN, and others off to the highest bidder.
Credit: CBS
One of those bidders is Entertainment Studios founder Byron Allen, who has offered to purchase ABC, FX, National Geographic, and other local Walt Disney networks for a staggering $10 billion dollars.
While that number is reportedly a “preliminary offer and could change,” it sounds like Byron Allen himself feels that Disney and Bob Iger might not be in the best place to actually accept it.
In a recent interview at CNBC’s Code Conference, Byron Allen stated that there was no issue with financing on his side, saying, “If Disney is willing to sell it, we just wanted to make it very clear we’re willing to buy it. Capital was not the issue. There’s plenty of capital to buy assets like this. The real commodity is can you get the deal approved, and by far we are the best ones to get that deal approved.”
Related: Bob Iger Sends Cold Mass E-Mail Regarding Disney Layoffs
However, Allen went on to say “They’re not ready to sell it. Bob has said that they’re not ready yet. And he’s brought in, Bob’s really excellent at what he does, very, he’s the best. He’s brought in some excellent consultants, Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. And they just said look, we’re not ready.”
At this point, it is unclear if Disney CEO Bob Iger actually has a plan for the future of the company or if he is just winging it as he goes along. If Iger is ready to do previously unthinkable things like turn ESPN into a sports gambling network or spend an absurd amount of money on a recreation of his own office, why can’t he be ready to accept a bid?
Should Disney be selling off TV channels? Is Bob Iger completely dropping the ball? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!