Disney CEO Bob Iger Steps Down as Bob Chapek Replaces Him

Bob Iger steps down as CEO of Disney with immediate effect and now will continue to be the chairman of Disney. The news has been confirmed by Disney and it has also been revealed that Bob Chapek will replace him.

Bob Iger steps down as CEO of Disney with immediate effect and now will continue to be the chairman of Disney. The news has been confirmed by Disney and it has also been revealed that Bob Chapek will be the next CEO as the chairman of Disney parks, products, and experiences. Further, it has also been revealed by Disney that Iger will assume the role of executive chairman and will focus on making creative strategies for the company during his remaining tenure. Meanwhile, It has been said that Chapek will be appointed to the board of directors later and till then continue to report to Iger.

Iger told in an interview with Julia Boorstin of CNBC that the company did not want confusion regarding carrying out of the day to day businesses and the reporting structure to CEO has been maintained as it will help us to facilitate a smooth transition. Iger has been the CEO of Disney since the year 2005 and has been planning to step down from his responsibilities for a while. But he has to push his retirement back due to several circumstances and the announcement of his retirement came as a big shock from the 69 years old Iger. Iger has to push his retirement back in the year 2016 when an heir apparent to the post of CEO suddenly resigned and Iger was compelled to carry out the responsibilities of CEO again.

The contributions of Iger in the growth of Disney as the entertainment giant and media powerhouse is remarkable. He played a vital role in the remarkable in the acquisitions of many big brands and content plays in Disney and made it profitable for Disney. Among the several mergers and acquisitions he secured for Disney, the remarkable was the acquisition of Pixar which was about $7.4 billion and the acquisition was from the CEO of Apple Steve Jobs in the year 2006. Further, he acquired Marvel in the year 2009 for $ 4 billion along with purchasing Star Wars Studio of Lucasfilm in the year 2012.

Bob Iger was also named as the businessman of the year 2019 in Times magazine 

If we look into the growth of the net income of Disney and then the growth figure is very much impressive and the media giant jumped to more than 300 %  which is about $10.4 billion. When Iger was selected as the CEO of Disney in that year the net income of the company was about $2.5 billion and so the growth in net income during his tenure is remarkable. Iger was considered a far-sighted CEO who expanded the business of Disney and turned it into a powerful media giant.

Remarkably, Bob Iger started his career at Disney in the year 1974 by way of ABC and then he took the position of head of entertainment in ABC and then he served as the chairman of ABC Network Television Group. His journey as the chairman of ABC network was also full of successes and he helped in the merger between ABC, Disney, and Capital cities. Iger joined as the chairman of the senior management team of Walt Disney officially in the year 1996  and also became the president of Walt Disney International in the year. Among his several works that contributed to the revitalization of this American iconic brand, the significant step was the launching of Disney Plus which was the streaming service of Disney. The streaming service soon became a huge success as more than 28 million subscribers all across the world subscribed to the streaming service of Disney.