After a major Wall Street firm sides with activist Nelson Peltz ahead of an April 3 shareholders meeting, investors are questioning how the CEO plans to plot out growth — and his own succession.
Disney and its current CEO, Bob Iger, have secured the backing of Iger’s onetime boss, former Chairman-CEO Michael Eisner. In a statement posted to social media, Eisner didn’t name Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Fund Management is mounting an offensive to win two seats on Disney’s board at the April 3 annual shareholder meeting. But the longtime media exec wrote that “bringing in someone who doesn’t have experience in the company or the industry to disrupt Bob and his eventual successor is playing not only with fire but earthquakes and hurricanes as well.”
None of the four leading candidates has the perfect resume for the top job. Neither did Bob Iger when he was first named CEO.
Walt Disney Co.’s board is focusing on four divisional heads as part of a formal search for an eventual successor to Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger, people with knowledge of the matter said. The four are TV chief Dana Walden, ESPN’s Jimmy Pitaro, theme-parks boss Josh D’Amaro and Alan Bergman, who heads the film business, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.
The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said the proxy battle mounted by activist investors is a “distraction” for him and senior managers as they try to make a complex company more profitable. “We’re at this hard every day, and when you go from fixing [the company], which was significant and heavy lifting, to really creating meaningful growth for our shareholders, the only way to achieve that is by focus and this campaign is in a way to distract us, to take our eye off all those balls,” Iger said, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Media and Telecom Conference on Tuesday.
The billionaire’s willingness to pay legal bills for people who want to sue Disney is the latest foray against the company and CEO Bob Iger.
The entertainment giant has real issues, and now the CEO has to deal with the Greek chorus of Ron DeSantis, Nelson Peltz and Elon Musk at the same time.
Walt Disney Co. is suddenly teeming with former executives. A number have returned or are angling to come back — from retired CEO Bob Iger, who resumed his duties a year ago, to former finance chief Jay Rasulo, who is seeking a board seat as part of a dissident investor group led by billionaire Nelson Peltz.
Disney has formally responded to activist shareholder Trian Fund Management’s unsolicited nominations of Trian chief Nelson Peltz and former Disney CFO James Rasulo to the media giant’s board of directors. The company acknowledged the nominations and also noted that Trian has teamed up with former Marvel Entertainment boss Ike Perlmutter. The executive was pushed out of the company years ago by CEO Bob Iger. Rasulo at one time was considered a potential successor to Iger. His run as an executive lasted from 1986 to 2015, the last five of those years as CFO. He had also served a stint as Chairman of the company’s Parks and Resorts division.
X boss Elon Musk called on Disney to “immediately” fire CEO Bob Iger on Thursday for allowing Mouse House ads to run on rival social media platforms that allegedly allowed child predators to target underage users. Musk’s escalated his feud with Iger — whom he told to “go f–k yourself” last week after Disney pulled its advertising from X — following a disputed report that its ads were running next to antisemitic content on the site formerly known as Twitter.
Disney says a “personal agenda” against Bob Iger by ousted exec Ike Perlmutter is fueling an activist investor’s new attempt to reshape the company’s board and grab more seats.
Disney CEO Bob Iger focused on instilling employees with renewed optimism about the Mouse House’s “blessed” and “fortunate” state during a virtual company-wide town hall Tuesday, rather than making any proclamations about the company’s future. The event, moderated by ABC News’ David Muir, was held just over a week after the one-year anniversary of Iger’s return to the helm at Disney.
A year into the run of Bob Iger 2: Return of the CEO, the Walt Disney Co. has not yet rediscovered its mojo. For most of Iger’s initial 14-year stint in the corner office, Disney was the pace-setter in media and entertainment, pulling off stunning M&A deals and amassing a sizable competitive advantage. Now, the company has fallen back to the pack as a Biblical series of challenges have come to define a centennial year that many staffers would just as soon forget than commemorate. On Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. PT, Iger and a handful of top executives will convene a town hall for employees and there should be no shortage of questions on the minds of those listening to management frame the current circumstances.
The company has a hangover from its big streaming push. The stock has struggled, investors are restive and its key studios have been stretched.
Disney’s legendary CEO came out of retirement to save the company — right in time for its 100th birthday. Nothing has gone his way.
After pushing back his retirement four times, Bob Iger finally made the leap. On Feb. 25, 2020, he announced he would step down as Disney’s CEO. His hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek, then Disney’s parks chairman, would take over the day-to-day job of running the company, effective immediately. As part of the changing of the guard, the Disney board suggested the new CEO should take over Iger’s expansive office at Disney headquarters in Burbank, California. There was just one problem. Iger had no interest in moving out.
Is ABC Really For Sale?
A tipping point for the broadcast industry is coming, and part of it hinges on a problem that Disney chief Bob Iger created for himself.
A growing consensus is forming among Wall Street analysts, former employees and industry experts that Disney should split in two
When Bob Iger returned to the helm of Disney nine months ago, after a brief retirement, the company and its shareholders seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Finally, “Dad” is back to get everything in order. He signed on for a two-year contract — plenty of time to execute on his two-prong mission of shoring up Disney’s stock price and lining up a new successor. It’s not going great.
Their counsel will be sought as the studio grapples with declining linear TV revenues and an unprofitable streaming business after the Disney CEO teased a possible linear channels sell-off.
Cory Treffiletti: Bob Iger is not a man who speaks off the cuff, so his recent comments and subsequent “damage control” about selling ESPN and ABC were not likely a misstep, but probably a more calculated means of generating interest and discussion over the state of traditional television. The larger question is not whether ESPN and ABC are valuable entities — it’s what format the two should be focusing on to succeed for the next 20 years.
Many in Hollywood hoped the re-upped Disney CEO, long considered the corporate leader most in tune with talent, would emerge as a levelheaded mediator who could end the labor impasse. And then he spoke his mind.
In an off-site meeting on Tuesday, the Disney chief executive spoke to senior leaders of the company’s television businesses. The meeting came just days after Iger made decidedly candid remarks to CNBC’s David Faber in which he said Disney’s linear business “may not be core” to the entertainment giant — a comment that immediately sent shockwaves through the industry.
If Disney Sells Off TV, It Won’t Be Simple
If CEO Bob Iger follows through on his desire to sell off the company’s linear TV business, the sale is likely to happen in pieces, experts say, and any potential buyer among broadcasters faces numerous complications.
Eight months after returning as Disney’s CEO, Iger is straining to put out fire after fire, including streaming losses, an activist investor and TV woes.
Disney CEO Bob Iger opened the door to selling the company’s linear TV assets as the business struggles during the media industry’s transition to streaming and digital offerings. Iger appeared on CNBC on Thursday, the morning after the company announced it would extend his contract by two years through 2026. He returned to the helm of the company in November after Disney’s board ousted Bob Chapek with a two-year contract through 2024 and plans to find a next successor. Disney is going to be “expansive” in its thinking about the traditional TV business, leaving the door open to a possible sale of the networks. “They may not be core to Disney,” Iger said, adding the creativity that has come from those networks has been key for Disney.
Bob Iger will not be handing Disney over to a successor next year after all. Originally back as Mouse House CEO for just two years, Iger’s contract has now been extended another two years through the end of 2026, the company announced Wednesday.
At Apple’s last big developer conference, Bob Iger announced that Disney+ would be available on the tech company’s new virtual reality headset. It could be a fad — or the future of mass media.
Corporate America is closely watching to see whether one of the country’s most powerful companies can face down a threat to its self-governance and free speech.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has offered to talk about his company’s dispute with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). “I do not view this as a going-to-mattresses situation for us,” Iger said. “If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that.”