No one ever saw the “King Charles III” clause coming. The Walt Disney Company could pull a fast one on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District by stripping it of all its power before any Board members were even seated. It surprised the world, but not Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger. He knew the entire time.
Related: On the Day DeSantis 2024 Rumors Spread, Disney Kneecaps Him
But now that Disney has become a punching bag for Governor DeSantis on his way to running for the 2024 Republican Presidential nomination, it remains to be seen what Iger has in store for his opponent next.
The answer may have been lying in front of us the entire time. Business Insider recently took a deep dive into Iger’s 2019 autobiography, Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learns from 15 Years as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and the results were incredibly revealing about what Iger might do next.
First and foremost, Iger values secrecy. We’ve recently seen that with the “King Charles III” clause and Disney’s lawsuit against Florida Governor DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. But this goes back even further. Disney was able to purchase both Pixar and Marvel without a single leak.
During Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, Steve Jobs revealed to Iger that his cancer had returned. Iger could keep that secret for five years until Jobs’ death. Iger also knew that the Pulse Night Club shooter had originally targeted Walt Disney World, only to realize there was too much security. The public would not learn those details for another two years.
The book also revealed that Iger knows and understands politics. It is virtually impossible to become a CEO of a company as vast as Disney without knowing how to play the political game and manage personalities. But, the book also revealed that Iger has deep liberal ties. His father was a liberal activist, and Iger even considered running for President as a Democrat in 2020 and later said he would think of a job in the administration of President Joe Biden.
But how is this going to end? Iger has two approaches to solving problems with people. The first is a negotiated peace. When Disney acquired Pixar and LucasFilm, he worked with Jobs and George Lucas to carve out an understanding for those two companies with the more prominent Disney brand.
However, short of giving DeSantis the White House, Iger has nothing to offer the Presidential hopeful. So, that brings us to Iger’s second approach: “soft autocracy.” Essentially, it’s a way of telling someone that what they want isn’t going to happen and what Iger wants will happen. This seems like the more likely approach and will involve Disney’s massive legal team.
There are always the billions of dollars and thousands of jobs that the Disney CEO plans to invest in Florida, and making them go away at an inopportune time for Governor DeSantis would be a problem.
One thing is for sure, and that is Disney CEO Bob Iger doesn’t lose. It just remains to be seen how he plans on winning this time.
