Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company., declared this week that he will “definitely” leave his position when his contract ends in 2026. The CEO made the remarks in an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
Iger served as CEO of Disney from 2005 to 2020 and then came back to lead the company in November 2022 after the departure of Bob Chapek. In July 2023, he consented to stay through to 2026 even though his original aim was to stay for just two years. He has now confirmed that he intends to leave once his current contract is complete.
In addition, Iger reaffirmed his dedication to selecting a successor during the interview – a task he had promised to make a top priority upon his return last year.
Iger on his return to Disney
In the interview, Iger said: “I’ve tried hard to conduct my own postmortem, just so that we as a company don’t do it again…what did we do wrong. We’ve discovered certain things that perhaps we could have done better.”
He also took issue with choices made by Chapek: “I was disappointed in what I was seeing both during the transition period when I was still there and while I was out … But I really worked hard at distancing myself from it…it hurts when something that you’ve put your heart and soul into and you care about so much is going through a difficult time.”
Iger has streamlined operations since his return to increase the business’s efficiency. It is now expected to save more money than the $5 billion in savings that was promised to investors back in February. The Company has been under pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz, yesterday issuing a response to Peltz’s demand for seats on the Board.
Last month, Disney’s Q4 results showed double-digit growth, both for the quarter and full year, for the Parks and Experiences segment. Operating income was up 31% for Q4 and 23% for the full year. Speaking then about the results, Iger said that the company is now moving into a growth phase after some aggressive cost management:
“Our progress has allowed us to move beyond this period of fixing and begin building our businesses again…we are focusing on four key building opportunities that will be central to our success.”
Disney announced plans in September to spend $60 billion on its parks, experiences and products division over the next 10 years to turbocharge growth.
