Back in February, Disney CEO Bob Iger shocked the entertainment industry when he announced that he would be stepping down from the company’s top position and staying on as “executive chairman” while passing over the reins to former head of the parks and cruise business Bob Chapek. But according to a new New York Times piece, Iger is reportedly “reasserting control” at the company and has “effectively returned” to help guide it through the coronavirus crisis.
“A crisis of this magnitude, and its impact on Disney, would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob [Chapek] and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years!” Iger told the Times in an email. According to media industry analyst Hal Vogel, things are dire at Disney right now due to the quarantine: the company is losing an estimated $30 million a day, and it borrowed $6 billion at the end of March. As such, Iger has been welcomed back with open arms by many at Disney to help weather the storm.
“It’s a matter of great good fortune that he didn’t just leave,” Richard Plepler, the former HBO chairman and CEO, told the publication. “This is a moment where people first and foremost are looking to an example of leadership that has proved itself over an extended period of time — and Bob personifies that.”
The Times also reports that Iger sees the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to modernize the company to protect its future.
“Mr. Iger also sees this as a moment, he has told associates, to look across the business and permanently change how it operates,” the report reads. “He’s told them that he anticipates ending expensive old-school television practices like advertising upfronts and producing pilots for programs that may never air. Disney is also likely to reopen with less office space. He’s also told two people that he anticipated the company having fewer employees.”
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