Bob Iger Steps Back in to Help Disney Fight for Its Life
Courtesy of movieweb.com:
The bigger they are, the harder they fall, or so the saying goes. Disney, prior to the situation that the world finds itself in, was at the very top of the food chain in the entertainment industry. But with that, the company is also in an unenviable position of having to keep a massive multi-media empire running on life support. With that, former CEO Bob Iger has stepped back in to take a more active leadership role in the company to help guide it through these uncertain times.
According to a new report, Bob Iger has now stepped in to help Bob Chapek, who was named Disney CEO in February, guide the company through what could be one of its most challenging periods ever. Disney Parks are shut down all over the world. Movie theaters are shut down, so Disney’s movies can’t bring in big bucks at the box office. Thousands of employees have been furloughed. And this is, in many ways, just the beginning. With that, Iger’s plans to quietly take a step back as Executive Chairman have been sidelined. The idea, it seemed, had been for Iger to go out on top. Now he’s trying to make sure Disney can weather the storm.
Bob Iger served as CEO of Disney for 15 years. Under his leadership, the company grew to the massive media powerhouse we know it as today. Iger oversaw the purchase of brands such as Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel, which have become unparalleled money-makers. But with the shutdown, Disney is bleeding cash, said to be in the neighborhood of $30 million per day. That is, safe to say, unsustainable in the long term. With that, Iger is doing his best to help guide the ship. Iger had this to say about it.
“A crisis of this magnitude and its impact on Disney would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob [Chapek] and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years.”
Much of this is going to come down to what Disney will look like on the other side once this is all over. Disneyland and Disney World, for example, rely on people gathering together in close quarters. Will people be as willing to do that even once social distancing orders are lifted? Will people go to the movies like they used to? Can Disney+ eventually help replace the theatrical side of the company’s business model? These are big questions without easy answers.
For now, it’s said that Disney will likely have fewer employees in the future, as well as less office space. The idea will be to cut costs and readjust to the new world that will emerge once things return to normal, whenever that may be. While it is almost impossible to imagine Disney folding entirely, it is now easy to imagine the Disney we knew before this all started may not return. This news comes to us via The New York Times.
