As soon as it was announced, it was clear there was a behind the scenes story. Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek was out, just months after signing a contract extension. And replacing him was his predecessor, the legend of Disney – Bob Iger – who led the company from 2005 to 2020. Now the full story is starting to come out.
Disney Plus was Bob Iger’s project but Bob Chapek wanted to make it his legacy. When Iger left, Disney was projecting 60-90 million Disney Plus subscribers by the end of 2024. Chapek upped the projection, suggesting 230-260 million subscribers in that same timeframe. Disney Plus currently has 164 million subscribers – so Chapek’s projections look on track. But this year, the bottom has fallen out of the streaming industry as Wall Street falls out of love with the unprofitable business model.
But while pinning his legacy to an unprofitable business model and hurting Disney’s overall profitability may have lost Chapek some supporters on Wall Street, that wasn’t what ultimately what led to his undoing. Similarly, while Chapek’s handling of political messes like Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law lost him supporters within the company and ultimately may lose Disney it’s special tax district in Florida, that wasn’t what led to his downfall either. It was his internal restructure that led to an “staff mutiny”.
This article unpacks the story of Chapek’s internal restructure and why it saw senior executives leave or revolt.
Bob Iger has said he’d be back for two years and once the company finds a successor he’ll be out. And there’s a good chance he’ll stick to that timeline. Whispers are he wants to run for US President (Sportsbet currently have his odds for the 2024 Presidency at 276-to-1, alongside Bill Gates, Chelsea Clinton and Eminem).
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