Breaking News: Bob Iger Regains Control of The Disney Company

Bob Iger told the board at The Walt Disney Company he was ready to exit the role of Chief Executive Office in December 2019. He worked with the board to name his successor, Bob Chapek the former Disney Parks chairman. During the late afternoon on February 25th, the news broke that Mr. Iger was stepping down as CEO of the company and Bob Chapek would be his replacement as chief executive. This sent shock waves throughout Hollywood, the stock market and the world.

Bob Iger (left) and Bob Chapek (right) in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
https://variety.com/2020/biz/news/bob-chapek-disney-ceo-analysis-bob-iger-1203515957/

At the same time, the world was experiencing a virus that was quickly spreading across the globe. The COVID-19 virus, quickly became a global pandemic and Disney parks, hotels and cruises closed to guests and workers to help mitigate the spread of the virus with social distancing practices. To help with costs, the company joined countless businesses in the travel, hospitality and entertainment industries and began to furlough workers.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bob Iger regained control of the Disney Company according to The New York Times.

After a few weeks of letting Mr. Chapek take charge, Mr. Iger smoothly reasserted control, BlueJeans video call by BlueJeans video call...The new nominal chief executive is referred to, almost kindergarten style, as "Bob C," while Mr. Iger is still just "Bob." And his title is "executive chairman" - emphasis on the first word.

Before stepping down as CEO, Bob Iger spent 15-years growing the Walt Disney Company as chief executive into one of the top entertainment and media companies in the world through innovation, expansion and acquisition. He acquired Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox, oversaw the opening of Shanghai Disneyland, grew Disney Parks and Resorts with expansion of new lands, attractions and resorts, and added more cruise ships. In November 2019, the most ambitious and innovative project was finally launched: Disney+. 

As a result of the company's focus on entertaining through on-screen performance and in-person experiences at their parks, resorts and cruises, Disney was the perfect target for the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Disney owns ESPN which is now broadcasting replays of major sporting events and athletes playing video games, since every professional and collegiate sports league has suspended play. 

However, the streaming service that Bob Iger pushed, Disney+, now has over 50 million subscribers. This is about twice as many as were reported on their Q1 earnings on February 4th. To understand how big of a jump this is, Netflix only added 8.8 million subscribers during Q4. And after launching in 2007, Netflix did not surpass 50 million subscribers until 2014.

To continue driving their subscription base up while the parks are closed, "Frozen 2" was added to the streaming service early and the recently released Disney-Pixar movie "Onward" became available to all members. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Bob Iger has been quoted as saying new health measures and additional safety screenings will be added to the parks. 

Mr. Iger is now intensely focused on remaking a company that will emerge, he belives, deeply changed by the crisis...[He], meanwhile, is trying to figure out what the company will look like after the crisis. One central challenge is to establish best practices for the company and the industry on how to bring people back to the parks and ride while avoiding the virus's spread - using measures like taking visitors' temperatures.

Even though we do not know the exact date, we know that the pandemic will end. We all look forward to that day when guests can once again enter through the gates and enjoy a Disney park again. It is something we all need - a place to escape and leave all of the world's problems behind. For that one day or for just a couple hours, we will have feelings of happiness and joy as we experience pirates signing, elephants flying and journey into a galaxy far, far away. And at the end of the day, knowing that Bob Iger is the man leading the company through these challenging times cannot be more satisfying.

As Mickey Mouse would say: See ya real soon!

Sources:

• Ben Smith. "Bob Iger Thought He was Leaving on Top. Now, He's Fighting for Disney's Life." (The New York Times, April 2020).
• Travis Clark. "Former Disney CEO Bob Iger has informally reasserted control during the coronavirus, The New York Times reports." (Business Insider, April 2020).
• Tom Corless. "Bob Iger Takes CEO Responsibilities Back from Chapek, Disney Company Downsizing Expected Once Dust Settles from Pandemic According to New York Times." (WDWNT, April 2020).
• Todd Haselton. "Disney share jump as Disney+ subscriptions pass 50 million." (CNBC, April 2020).