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Not long ago, Disney was the company that could not be beat. Its theme parks were unlike any other, its movies were almost guaranteed to be a hit, stock prices were on the rise, and CEO Bob Iger was the model for every other CEO to follow. But things change, and they can change quickly. Disney was almost like the Titanic — a behemoth ahead of its time that could not sink.
Well, the ship just hit the iceberg.
Credit: Disney
Iger stepped away from his CEO role in 2020 and Bob Chapek took his place. Things quickly started to go downhill, and Chapek was fired in less than three years. When Iger came back, hopes were high and Disney’s stock immediately went up. Unfortunately, things have not been easy and the once beloved CEO now finds himself facing backlash from fans, employees, and two of Hollywood’s biggest unions.
Credit: ABC
Since he has been back, Iger has said that he will be working to save Disney $5.5 billion in the next year. Part of that included eliminating 7,000 jobs and laying off thousands of people. It also included purging Disney+ of a ton of content while, at the same time, raising the price for the ad-free tier. He is also considering selling parts of Disney — like ABC — and looking for a strategic partner for ESPN.
Credit: Disney
In addition to dealing with massive budget cuts, Iger is also dealing with two major strikes. Both the Writers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild are on strike, so most of the company’s productions have been put on indefinite pause. Iger is one of the main studio heads trying to negotiate with the Guilds, but has been facing mounting backlash for out-of-touch comments and “lecturing” the Writers Guild on why they should take what the studios are offering.
Credit: Herman de Keyperling, Flickr
It appears that all of these issues have now come to a head. On August 24, Disney stock dropped nearly 4% and is at its lowest level in almost a decade. It was one of the worst-performing stocks of the day. When the market closed, Disney’s stock sat at $82.47 per share. That means that, even during the pandemic, Disney stock was never as low as it is now.
To make things worse, experts are expecting that the shares will drop even lower in the coming weeks and months. Disney’s stock has dropped nearly 5% since Disney released its earnings report earlier this month.
