Bob Iger and Disney Are About to Make a Massive Mistake

This week, the Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Bob Iger, find themselves in the fight of their lives. On April 3, Disney shareholders will meet to vote on a new Board of Directors.

Iger is facing off against activist investor Nelson Peltz. Peltz and his Trian Fund Management own around two percent of Disney. He is seeking two sets on Disney’s Board, including one for himself and significant changes at the Walt Disney Company.

Related: April 3 Will Define Disney For Decades to Come

He wants Disney to move away from its “woke agenda” and return a more significant dividend to its shareholders.

However, Peltz’s biggest complaint about the Walt Disney Company is that there is no plan to succeed Bob Iger as CEO. Iger returned to Disney in 2022 and is set to leave at the end of 2026 when his contract runs out.

Peltz hopes to avoid the disastrous transition from Iger to former Disney CEO Bob Chapek. To prevent this, Peltz wants a clear plan, so Bob Iger can begin training the new CEO before he retires.

With days to go before Iger makes his case to shareholders, rumors began to swirl that he had settled on his replacement, and an announcement was forthcoming.

CNBC reports that Bob Iger has decided that Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, is the favorite to replace him. The plan is for Dana Walden to learn under Iger for the next year or more, and then Iger will step down when his contract is up at the end of 2026.

No sooner had the rumor broken that it would be Dana Walden, and the naysayers started in on her, especially since she only has a background as a television executive.

Walden lacks the Disney Parks experience that Josh D’Amaro has, the film experience of Disney Entertainment co-chair Alan Bergman, or the sports experience of ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro.

One person who anonymously spoke with CNBC said:

She’ll be eaten up by real investors. Does she have the necessary depth of business knowledge? She can learn, but you can’t have someone teach you decades of finance, business and tactics in a year or two.

But Dana Walden has been learning the film business for over a year. Her background is similar to Bob Iger’s before he took over as Disney CEO. She would also be the first female CEO of the Walt Disney Company.

Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios and a former colleague of Walden’s, said:

There’s something about looking at female execs where questions are asked that would never be asked of men. Can they scale? Can a creative person be a business leader? I find that to be a huge bugaboo. She’s in charge of billions of dollars of assets, but she’s not capable of being a business leader?

The next Disney CEO will have several issues to tackle, including declining attendance at Disney’s theme parks, declining streaming revenue, changes in Disney Television Studios, and a downturn in Disney’s films.

The Disney Board will decide on the next chairman of the Walt Disney Company, but Disney CEO Bob Iger will have a big say in who will succeed him for the second time. The first time around was a disaster with Bob Chapek. Hopefully, the second time is a charm.

What do you think of Dana Walden as the next Disney CEO? Let us know in the comments.