Disney boss Bob Iger doesn’t name his predecessor, Bob Chapek, but it’s a fair bet they’re not exchanging Christmas cards.
The CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, throughout his first, hugely successful time in the job, was renowned for keeping problems behind closed doors. Disney was not the kind of company to engage in public spats, or wash its metaphorical linen in public.
Iger handpicked his successor when he eventually left his role, and that man was Bob Chapek. It would be fair to say that things did not go very well.
Chapek took over from Iger in February 2020, and – appreciating he was at the helm during a very difficult time – was soon embroiled in a public disagreement with Scarlett Johansson: unthinkable under the Iger regime.
Chapek’s time at Disney was suddenly ended around a year ago, and Iger came out of retirement. It’d be fair to say he’s spent most of the 12 months since firefighting, whilst Chapek counts the dollar bills of his payoff.
Iger has been careful not to throw shade in Chapek’s direction, but unusually, at an event in New York, he’s broken his usual rule. “I was disappointed in what I was seeing in the transition period while I was out”, he said at the DealBook Summit that took place in New York.
“I worked hard at distancing myself from it”.
Ouch.
Iger has confirmed that his time will definitely come to an end in 2026, and work is underway already to seek out a suitable replacement. By the sounds of it, it’s probably not worth Bob Chapek getting his curriculum vitae prepared.
The full report on the event can be found at the New York Times website, here.
Maybe this is the era now where Bob Iger starts to go all a bit Ridley Scott on us, and saying what he actually wants to say, rather than biting his lip. In the meantime, the emphasis is said to be on quality over quantity going forward…
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