After Threatening To Sell, Iger Tries to Calm Nervous Employees, But Only Adds Fuel to the Fire

Apparently, threatening to sell a large portion of your empire isn’t necessarily good for morale. Disney CEO Bob Iger found that out the hard way. After commenting last week that he was open to selling parts of the Disney Company’s media division, including ABC, employees were experiencing “high anxiety” about their futures.

Related: ‘The Challenges Are Greater Than I Anticipated.’ Iger Gets Brutally Honest About Disney Films

In an attempt to squash some of those concerns, Iger held a secret meeting earlier this week with employees of the Disney General Entertainment Division, which operates ABC, National Geographic, the Disney Channel, and FX.

According to CNN Business, Iger told the employees:

I’m ridiculously passionate about news. It’s important to this company. We need to figure out how it makes the transition into streaming. And I happen to believe we will endure. It’s too good, it’s too important, and it’s really fun.

Those comments directly contradict what Iger said last week in an interview with CNBC, in which he said that “They (those business) are not core to Disney.”

Bob Iger is under tremendous pressure from Wall Street to make the Walt Disney Company profitable again. Since Iger’s interview with CNBC, Disney’s stock has lost nearly four percent. The stock saw a slight bump after it was announced that Iger would return as CEO through 2026.

But it seemed that the meeting did not quell the fears of anxious employees. A Disney Insider told CNN Business:

The usual jewel in the crown stuff — except now we know that he’s selling the jewel. It’s great to say he loves the jewel. It’s great to say that the jewel is important. It’s great to say that the jewel is fun. But he has revealed the truth: he wants to get the highest price he can for the jewel because he can’t afford it anymore.

Related: ‘I Can’t Explain Bob Iger’s Thinking.’ Employees Sound Off on Company Layoffs

Iger is currently fighting battles on multiple fronts within the Disney Company. Disney’s recent slate of films has not met box office expectations, and the company lost $900 million over 12 months. And now he also has a writer and actors strike to deal with.

Disney Parks have also suffered a downturn recently, with reports surfacing that Walt Disney World attendance has dropped this summer.

So, with television, films, streaming, and Parks in trouble, Disney’s CEO has several problems to fix over the next three years. And apparently, the Disney staff might be another to add to the list.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.