With successful acquisitions, Bob Iger has elevated Disney to become a huge entertainment giant.
Now he is stepping down from the CEO position he has held for 15 years, and handing it over to another Bob.
Many were taken aback by Bob Iger's announcement that he was handing over the Disney helm to Bob Chapek, a Disney veteran who had led the company's theme park unit.
”It’s just sudden in other people’s eyes because we haven’t talked about it publicly,” 69-year-old Iger told The New York Times.
When Bob Iger took over as CEO in October 2005, the stock price was just under $24. Now the stock is worth over $125. A rise of more than 400 percent should have made most investors happy.
Above all, Iger has gradually strengthened Disney's entertainment library through the acquisition of Pixar, which is behind animated films such as "Toy Story", the comic book company Marvel - which is responsible for the world's most successful superhero films - and Lucasfilm, led by "Star Wars".
Most recently, the entire Fox entertainment arm ended up in the shopping cart. It was Iger's largest purchase to date, and was priced at $71 billion.
The new brands came in handy in November, when Disney entered the streaming wars by launching its own service Disney+ in its home market of the United States. With the help of Marvel's "Avengers," the new series "The Mandalorian" and "unanimated" versions of Disney classics like "Aladdin" and "Lady and the Tramp," the service quickly amassed an impressive subscription base of 26.5 million paying customers, although the venture is also expensive.
”"With the successful launch of Disney's direct-to-consumer business and the integration of 21st Century Fox well underway, I believe this is the optimal time to hand over to a new CEO," Igor said in a statement.
It is also possible to see cross-fertilization with the new brands and existing operations, where, for example, there are new ”Star Wars” areas in Disneyworld in Florida and Disneyland in California.
”The company has become bigger and more complex just in the last 12 months,” Iger said on a conference call, adding that he feels he wants to focus on the creative side of the company.
He will remain with the company as chairman of the board, and will have creative responsibility until his contract expires at the end of next year.
”"It's not like I'm suddenly going to be working three days a week. My new role is a full-time job," Iger told The New York Times.
So, what is Bob Chapek going to do? For starters, he wants to continue building on the foundation that Iger has built.
Bob Chapek, 60, himself highlights his long experience – 27 years within the company.
”That’s my strength, and something that I can leverage through all my experience that I’ve gained not only at Disney, but also before Disney, when it comes to figuring out how we can take the data, the information, the technology and again our storytelling, directly to the customer so that we can take all the great assets that we have and continue to build on them for our shareholders,” he tells CNBC.
Source: TT
