With Bob Iger officially leaving the Walt Disney Company after being with the company for more than two decades he leaves his successor, Bob Chapek, with some advice before his departure.
Former CEO Bob Iger had been with Disney ever since ABC was acquired by Disney back in 1995. At the time Iger was President of ABC and was allowed to remain at the position. In 1999 Iger moved up and became President of Walt Disney International, overseeing various overseas. A year later he was promoted to the COO of Disney, making him the second most powerful individual at the company. In 2005 after Michael Eisner stepped down Bob Iger was named the new CEO and Chairman of the company.Â
Over the years Bob Iger not only expanded in terms of the company itself, but also acquired various other companies such as Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Maker Studios and 20th Century Fox. Making Disney one of the largest media companies in the world.
However over the past few years of his reign saw many controversies, such as letting the Star Wars brand sour under his watch, spending billions of dollars in acquiring various other studios allowing the company to become more political which drove some customers away. It all came to a head in 2020 when Iger was seemingly forced to step down as CEO and naming Bob Chapek as his successor, but staying on until the end of 2021 as Creative Officer.
Since it is now late 2021 Iger is now preparing his final departure from the company. He left a word of “advice” for his successor:
“In a world and business that is awash with data, it is tempting to use data to answer all of our questions, including creative questions. I urge all of you not to do that.”Â
Iger asks his successor to be creatively driven when it comes to new projects and not a money man. This culd prove to be a bit difficult when Chapek himself is a man who goes by numbers. Chapek was previously head of the Disney Home Entertainment, President of Consumer Products and even Chairman of Parks and Resorts. He is known for being very conservative when it comes to spending and is reportedly very bottom-line focused.Â
Do you think Chapek will make a good successor to Iger? Leave your thoughts below.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter Â
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