According to a piece by the New York Times, Bob Iger has reasserted control over Disney just a few months after stepping down as CEO. We want to be clear from the jump, Bob Chapek is still the CEO of Disney, there have been no title changes, but there has reportedly been a shift in duties as Iger looks to steer Disney safely through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Just a few days ago, Iger spoke with Barron’s to offer a state-of-the-company type look into the work taking place to keep Disney afloat with the theme parks closed indefinitely and movie theaters shuttered around the world. If it wasn’t immediately clear from the article, Iger is still very much the face of Disney and remains the direct report for CEO Bob Chapek.
In this new piece for the NYT, Iger says that a “crisis of this magnitude, and it’s 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!”. When Iger stepped down as CEO, a plan that has been in the works since December, he planned on taking on a more creative role in the Company.
With the spread of the Coronavirus and the impact on the Company, Iger has reasserted control over Disney, including taking this time to “look for ways to run our business more efficiently when we come back”, as noted in the Barron’s interview. The New York Times took that concept a step further, citing two sources as saying a more effective Disney means fewer employees. For his part, Iger denied ever saying that Disney would have a smaller workforce, but change seems inevitable. When asked about a smaller workforce, Iger said that “any decision about staff reductions will be made by my successor and not me”.
As for his successor, a Disney spokeswomen declined to make Mr. Chapek available for an interview. Iger reportedly assured Chapek that the board of directors would take the extraordinary circumstances of his first months (and more) on the job into consideration when it comes time for an evaluation.
So where does this leave the parks and resorts? If the New York Times sources are correct and Iger does in fact want to create a leaner workforce, we could definitely see changes at the parks and resorts when they reopen. If one thing is sure, it’s that Bob Iger is the man for the job, and his track record of incredible growth and stewardship of the brand means that Disney is in good hands once again.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com for the latest Disney Parks news and photos. We’ll continue to bring you news and photos, where possible, through the Disney Parks closure due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) and will resume our normal coverage once the parks reopen to guests on July 11th!