Bob Iger back as CEO! Bob Chapek out

[Disneyboy24]

I understand

 

[RamblingMad]

Not a huge fan of this. It's time for the next generation to run companies.

And he's only getting $27m a year to run it.

 

[GreatLakes]

IMO he was always going to be the fall guy. A lot of the park changes were planned under Iger.

I don't think the parks had much to do with this. The Financial Times article matches some of the reports back when he centralized leadership that he was pushing out good people along his inability to work well with talent have to be the main driving factors. The loss of Zenia Mucha shouldn't be overlooked either. I suspect a few Disney own-goals would have been avoided if she was still there.

This is also a failure by Iger. One of the responsibilities of a retiring CEO is to have a good successor lined up, either internally or an outside candidate, and he failed there. The board takes some blame too since the choice is ultimately theirs but it seemed like Iger never really had a strong successor in place. I hope he spends a lot of the next two years getting one ready.

 

[Jrb1979]

I don't think the parks had much to do with this. The Financial Times article matches some of the reports back when he centralized leadership that he was pushing out good people along his inability to work well with talent have to be the main driving factors. The loss of Zenia Mucha shouldn't be overlooked either. I suspect a few Disney own-goals would have been avoided if she was still there.

This is also a failure by Iger. One of the responsibilities of a retiring CEO is to have a good successor lined up, either internally or an outside candidate, and he failed there. The board takes some blame too since the choice is ultimately theirs but it seemed like Iger never really had a strong successor in place. I hope he spends a lot of the next two years getting one ready.

You're right the parks had nothing to do with his firing. What I'm saying is that Chapek was put in place to be the bad guy that made these changes to the parks.

 

[sethschroeder]

It has to do with goodwill and the feeling that the customers who pay most are the ones who matter most.
no, I don’t think it will change in 24 hours. This was just an example of how customer experience has been sacrificed

Ah okay thanks for explaining. I was wondering and it makes sense.

 

[bluenosemickey]

As much as I would like to think that Iger would come in as Santa Clause, unfortunately the profits produced by the changes in park management are not likely to be reversed. As others have said, it's hard to turn down money for nothing (and your chicks for free... ha ha couldn't help myself).
Anyhow, it's the streaming universe that is the issue. That's where Chapek failed. Not sure if Iger will be able to manage to produce the profits necessary for Disney+ to make the money that's required to make up for the M&A of some big ticket items, Hulu, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21CF to name a few.
Disney+ needs to keep the adult content coming and that comes at a big cost. If not, you end up just catering to families and more likely, children. And we know those kiddos will watch Frozen over and over until you can't stand it! And they won't pay any attention to ads. So it won't generate the required revenue to keep the system profitable.

Just my thoughts...

 

[RamblingMad]

As much as I would like to think that Iger would come in as Santa Clause, unfortunately the profits produced by the changes in park management are not likely to be reversed. As others have said, it's hard to turn down money for nothing (and your chicks for free... ha ha couldn't help myself).
Anyhow, it's the streaming universe that is the issue. That's where Chapek failed. Not sure if Iger will be able to manage to produce the profits necessary for Disney+ to make the money that's required to make up for the M&A of some big ticket items, Hulu, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21CF to name a few.
Disney+ needs to keep the adult content coming and that comes at a big cost. If not, you end up just catering to families and more likely, children. And we know those kiddos will watch Frozen over and over until you can't stand it! And they won't pay any attention to ads. So it won't generate the required revenue to keep the system profitable.

Just my thoughts...

Looks like he's chopping heads in the media division. Maybe he's taking after Musk.

Love this meme:

https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/z1dugg

 

[bluenosemickey]

Looks like he's chopping heads in the media division. Maybe he's taking after Musk.

Love this meme:

https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/z1dugg

 

[David G Farr]

As much as I would like to think that Iger would come in as Santa Clause, unfortunately the profits produced by the changes in park management are not likely to be reversed. As others have said, it's hard to turn down money for nothing (and your chicks for free... ha ha couldn't help myself).
Anyhow, it's the streaming universe that is the issue. That's where Chapek failed. Not sure if Iger will be able to manage to produce the profits necessary for Disney+ to make the money that's required to make up for the M&A of some big ticket items, Hulu, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21CF to name a few.
Disney+ needs to keep the adult content coming and that comes at a big cost. If not, you end up just catering to families and more likely, children. And we know those kiddos will watch Frozen over and over until you can't stand it! And they won't pay any attention to ads. So it won't generate the required revenue to keep the system profitable.

Just my thoughts...

How would Disney+ be Chapek’s fault? That was launched before he took over. I remember signing up for it in 2019. Chapek was only ceo for like 11 months so I’d say a majority of the negative things (genie+, crap movies, crap streaming content) were already well in the works prior to his taking over.

 

[Jrb1979]

How would Disney+ be Chapek’s fault? That was launched before he took over. I remember signing up for it in 2019. Chapek was only ceo for like 11 months so I’d say a majority of the negative things (genie+, crap movies, crap streaming content) were already well in the works prior to his taking over.

They were already in the works before Chapek. They used Chapek to be the fall guy for those changes.

 

[RamblingMad]

They were already in the works before Chapek. They used Chapek to be the fall guy for those changes.

Disney is also cursed. Every other CEO ends up being bad.

 

[Jrb1979]

Disney is also cursed. Every other CEO ends up being bad.

A lot of that has to do with how diverse the company is. What makes it hard now is Iger and Chapek's focus has solely been on Disney+ that the parks become the money maker to prop up the studios side of things. I honestly think they would be better off let some become in charge of all the parks. Give that person a budget to work with and let them run it.

 

[raidermatt]

Chapek is not a "fall guy". Other execs were going directly to the Board with their complaints. That was his own doing, not Iger's.

Company morale in general plummeted under Chapek. Can't pin that on Iger.

Yes, many of the financial initiatives were started by Iger, but you cannot argue that Chapek was not putting his "unique spin" on many of them.

Bottom line, he was not delivering financially and there was a mutiny in the works. That's on him.

Iger will not be the savior many park fans are hoping for. But his approach was more of a measured one. He chipped away at things, allowing for time to evaluate, vs. Chapek who was "damn the torpedos" when it came to price increases and cost cutting. Never mind the difference in PR messaging between the two.

Bringing Iger back is a relative positive. Hopefully he does better this time when it comes to finding his replacement.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

I don’t get the love fest with Josh.

Disneyland is having perpetual problems with ride breakdowns.. It’s all we are hearing about it in the trip reports. I don’t know if the year long closure was a factor.

I am not even discussing non-working animatronics (which is also happening), I am talking about the rides being down several times a day.

Ride breakdowns affect crowds, diminish guest satisfaction and are potentially a safety issue. Evacuating guests off any ride, especially those with disabilities is not ideal.

As the guy over Parks, this should be VERY high on his list of concerns.

Forget the extras and pixie dust, just get things working properly.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

.

 

[SeanWM48]

I don’t get the love fest with Josh.

Disneyland is having perpetual problems with ride breakdowns.. It’s all we are hearing about it in the trip reports. I don’t know if the year long closure was a factor.

I am not even discussing non-working animatronics (which is also happening), I am talking about the rides being down several times a day.

Ride breakdowns affect crowds, diminish guest satisfaction and are potentially a safety issue. Evacuating guests off any ride, especially those with disabilities is not ideal.

As the guy over Parks, this should be VERY high on his list of concerns.

Forget the extras and pixie dust, just get things working properly.

I'm on this side of things. I respect Pete's opinion and he ALWAYS goes out of his way to make Josh look good on the podcast but the results really haven't been there. The more power Josh gets the less impressed everyone is.

Josh does present himself very well though, and that's part of the job.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Josh does present himself very well though, and that's part of the job.

Josh knows the key to success is cultivating his own interpretation of the Iger Cardi. Something Chapek couldn't or wouldn't attempt:




The zipper gives it a 21st-Century edginess...

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Josh does present himself very well though, and that's part of the job.

I agree he is dapper, especially compared to other old men executives. He also smiles so much more which makes him more likeable.

However, at the parks panel I actually think Josh was a worse presenter than Chapek. If you go back to some previous park panels, Chapek did a better job with pausing for effect, confidence, flow, etc. He had the audience really energized (he also had actual announcements.)

Josh is better off the cuff, Chapek seemed better in practiced presentations.

Completely agree that with more power, Josh has become less impressive.

 

[Bovril82]

I agree he is dapper, especially compared to other old men executives. He also smiles so much more which makes him more likeable.

However, at the parks panel I actually think Josh was a worse presenter than Chapek. If you go back to some previous park panels, Chapek did a better job with pausing for effect, confidence, flow, etc. He had the audience really

Josh is better off the cuff, Chapek seemed better in practiced presentations.

Completely agree that with more power, Josh has become less impressive.

The no announcements is key. This year's parks panel was such a big time fill exercise. He really had nothing to say, and that's got to be embarrassing.

Whether that is down to Josh personally, or Chapek. Time will tell now on that front.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

They need to look out side the box for a new CEO and stop picking the same type of human. Go back to the Co-CEO style and get back to the heart of Disney. So many choices made these past years seemed against what made the parks special. Pay folks a living wage, stop with the greed.