The tenure of Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek has been terminated with immediate effect, and the man he replaced has been brought out of retirement.
After a tough few weeks, The Walt Disney Company has acted swiftly, removing Bob Chapek from his position as company CEO and re-installing former chief, Bob Iger in the hot seat.
Whilst there’s no doubt that the company’s fortunes have fared less well since Chapek took over, the outbound CEO did take up the role just as Covid hit, not to mention having to navigate the tricky waters of bringing the company’s streaming platform, Disney+, into profitability.
Ultimately, Chapek’s efforts have been deemed as sub-par and the CEO has been shown the door with his predecessor being earmarked as the right man to steer the good ship Disney into less choppy waters.
The company’s fourth quarter financials were revealed a fortnight ago and Wall Street was not impressed. Despite Disney+ continuing to surge in subscriber numbers, in the wake of Netflix’s well-documented struggles, profitability is now the key and in this area, Disney failed to convince the financial markets that its streaming platform was performing as it should be. Add to that the sustained outcry over the company’s scandalous rises in theme park pricing and it seems that Chapek’s leadership has become untenable.
As for Iger, his first run as Disney CEO is remembered largely for the shrewd purchases of companies such as Marvel and Lucasfilm, a strategy that has paid off handsomely for the company.
Disney’s board and investors will be hoping to see a quick turnaround in the company’s fortune whilst there’s an argument to be made that Iger never really strayed too far from his former role, sometimes making life difficult for his successor. Either way, Iger is back in the hot seat now and it will be interesting to see what happens next.
Deadline
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