Bob Iger’s Purge of Younger Talent Is Haunting Disney

Late last year, when activist investor Nelson Peltz launched his second proxy battle against the Walt Disney Company and its Board, one of his many complaints was that there was no clear succession plan for Disney CEO Bob Iger. Peltz’s main concern was that without a plan, Disney would get a repeat of former CEO Bob Chapek.

So, how hard could it be within the Walt Disney Company to find someone who could replace Bob Iger? As it turns out, the answer to that question is virtually impossible, and Iger may be the one to blame.

The Original Battle

In 2004, Disney was facing similar pressure. The company had a series of flops at the box office, investors were questioning the company’s strategy, and the CEO succession plan was a disaster. The Disney CEO of that time was Michael Eisner.

Eisner was able to wiggle his way out of his problems by appointing Iger as the next CEO. Iger then led Disney into another Golden Age of films, television, and theme parks, fueled, in part, by significant acquisitions.

But then came COVID and the Chapek era, followed by the return of Iger. Since his return, Iger has been flirting with various plans without actually executing any of them, including finding a successor.

The Wall Street Journal reports that there is a specific reason why Disney can’t find a successor: Bob Iger got rid of all of them.

Disney’s Former CFO, Gary Wilson, told the Journal:

Iger has systematically eliminated any executive who could become a successor. To me it’s a real black mark on Iger’s record.

Iger disputed those claims to the Journal, calling the succession process at Disney “robust.” But there is no clear frontrunner to be the next CEO of the Walt Disney Company, and why would they want the job anyway?

Iger’s To-Do List

With Nelson Peltz breathing down his neck, Bob Iger has a laundry list of things at Disney that he must fix to placate the activist investor. The first order of business is restoring Disney’s films. In 2023, Disney, Pixar, and Marvel released seven movies, and five of them were net losers, including The Marvels (2023), which had the worst box office performance in Marvel’s history.

Iger’s solution is to release fewer movies in 2024 and improve them. Disney announced last year that they would be shaking up the 2024 calendar with only one Marvel film for the entire year.

Next up is fixing Disney’s theme parks. While Disney Parks continued to make money, its flagship, Walt Disney World, had inconsistent attendance at best. With Universal Orlando opening Epic Universe in 2025, Disney World must find something to keep people returning year after year.

And the biggest issue is what to do with Disney’s television networks. With over-the-air cable networks dying, Disney has to decide if it wants to ride the wave down or divest itself and try to reclaim some profit. Iger and Disney must also determine what to do with ESPN, one of the few moneymakers among its linear cable networks and one of the only with a large enough audience to go entirely to a streaming platform.

And the list goes on and on. With so much on his plate, it’s no wonder Iger has pushed finding his successor down to the bottom. However, investors aren’t going to let him forget. They all remember the Chapek Era and don’t want a repeat of that.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.