With Disney beginning a restructuring of the company following the return of CEO Bob Iger thousands of jobs are now on the cutting black. The first round of those cuts will be from the executive level with many people from Hulu, Freeform/ABC and 20th Century Television set to be laid off.
Now in a crazy turn of events Marvel Entertainment president Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter has just been laid off, along with co-president Rob Steffens and chief counsel John Turitzin. The move follows Marvel Entertainment being folded into Disney directly, effectively dissolving the division. 
The 80-year-old executive had been at Marvel for 30 years joining the board of Marvel Comics in April of 1993 and becoming chairman two years later. He would later seize control of the company in 1997 following its 1996 bankruptcy and would later merge Marvel with their subsidiary Toy Biz to create Marvel Enterprises in 1998.
Perlmutter became the CEO of Marvel in 2005 and would stay on as head of the company following their acquisition by Disney in 2009. Perlmutter was effectively in charge of Marvel Studios until a falling out with producer Kevin Feige which lead to Marvel Studios and the MCU being brought under Disney’s control.
Many assume that the reason for Perlmutter’s outing is related to the recent Nelson Peltz proxy fight earlier this year, in which Perlmutter was a supporter of the attempted takeover. This could be Bob Iger getting his revenge for the brief executive insurrection.
Some also see it as politically motivated as Perlmutter himself is a friend and ally to former U.S. President Donald Trump.
However, this could also just be Disney trying to trim the fat of any divisions or branches they see as either irrelevant or redundant. The fewer divisions you have to worry about the more you are able to manage your company’s funds.
This is most likely not the last we will see top executives be let go. Recently Marvel Studios co-president Victoria Alonso was fired due to a breach of contract. So no matter how high in the food chain at Disney you seem your position is far from safe and secure.
Source: Variety
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