Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger shouldn't be expected any gifts from his employees anytime soon. Iger had become the poster boy for out-of-touch CEOs when he called the demands of the Actors Guild of America “unreasonable” and their strike “unfortunate.” He made those comments in an interview with CNBC at “Billionaire's Summer Camp” in Sun Valley, Idaho.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher called his comments “repugnant,” actor Brian Cranston spoke to Iger directly, saying he would not “take away our right to work.”
But even before he made enemies with the actor's union, Iger had his in-house problems. At Disney's earnings call with Wall Street investors in February, Iger promised 7,000 layoffs throughout the Walt Disney Company that would save the company $5.5 billion.
Those layoffs occurred mainly across television divisions, including some big names at ESPN. And Iger used this opportunity to lay off some employees who were loyal to his predecessor, CEO Bob Chapek, and to crush some of his ideas, including cutting the entire Meta division.
But now, Iger is boasting to investors that Disney has exceeded its savings goal of $5.5 billion, which includes $210 million in severance packages for the fired employees.
Iger said in a statement:
In the eight months since my return, these important changes are creating a more cost effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our operations that has put us on track to exceed our initial goal of $5.5 billion in savings as well as improved our direct-to-consumer operating income by roughly $1 billion in just three quarters. While there is still more to do, I’m incredibly confident in Disney’s long-term trajectory because of the work we’ve done, the team we now have in place, and because of Disney’s core foundation of creative excellence and popular brands and franchises.
Since his return late last year, Iger has been trying to maximize revenue. So far, cuts have been the order of the day. He cut the streaming, taking away content on Disney Plus to trim costs. Disney's streaming business lost four million subscribers during the second quarter.
In the final round of layoffs, ESPN saw several on-air employees, including high-profile, highly-paid names, let go. But now Iger has his cost savings.
Shareholders will see this week if Iger's cost savings has worked. Disney's stock got a bump earlier this week when ESPN announced a gambling partnership. However, it has since dipped.
We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.
