Bob Iger, one of the most successful CEOs in the history of The Walt Disney Company, is returning to once again run the media empire. It’s a shocking development at Hollywood’s biggest company. Bob Chapek, who replaced Iger in 2020 as CEO, is stepping down immediately. In contrast, Chapek’s tenure at the helm of Disney was rocky, starting off with the turmoil of the pandemic and culminating this month in a dismal fourth-quarter earnings report that rattled Wall Street.
Goldman McCormick PR’s thoughts
“From a PR perspective, bringing back Bob Iger is a fantastic move for Disney. Under Iger’s tenure Disney acquired Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox. Iger is a symbol of Disney’s good times and I’m sure some employees have his quote of “The heart and soul of the company is creativity and innovation” on their desks.
Hypothetically speaking, even if Iger didn’t have a long track record of huge gains for Disney, I think he’d still be welcomed back because under his tenure it was relatively quiet when compared to Bob Chapek.
However, if Iger starts to weigh in on culture wars (something I do not believe former Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner would do as one of his quotes is “We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective.”) I think renewed shareholder confidence in Disney will diminish.