According to CNBC, former Disney CEO Bob Iger and current Disney CEO Bob Chapek are no longer on speaking terms. Apparently, this falling out happened around the time Iger stepped down as CEO.
Just weeks before the pandemic started in 2020, Bob Iger resigned as CEO. Bob Chapek was chosen as his replacement. “I’ve watched Bob [Iger] lead this company to amazing new heights, and I’ve learned an enormous amount from that experience,” Chapek said.
Related – Bob Chapek issues a statement to Cast Members of the LGBTQ+ community
About a month after the parks closed due to the pandemic, Iger told New York Times columnist, Ben Smith, that he would be stepping back in to help Chapek run the company during the Covid-19 crisis. Iger said, “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!”
Apparently, when he saw the story, Chapek was furious. According to someone close to him, he felt he did not need assistance with running the company.
Related – Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner talks about Bob Iger and Bob Chapek
Since then, the two Bobs have had a strained relationship.
“Anyone succeeding Iger, who had been Disney’s CEO since 2005, was going to have a difficult time filling his shoes. Iger was generally beloved by Hollywood and highly respected as a CEO, particularly after orchestrating a series of intellectual property acquisitions — of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm — which will likely go down in media history as three of the smartest deals ever. Iger, 71, has even flirted with running for president of the United States.
Chapek, meanwhile, has a harder exterior and at times, according to colleagues, struggles with emotional intelligence — which happens to be Iger’s strength.” — CNBC
It may take some time for everyone to accept Chapek and his goals for the Walt Disney Company. Anonymous sources say he may not be a people person but he is “a skilled and determined operator.”
His contract as CEO is currently set to end in February 2023.
How do you feel about Bob Chapek and the way he is running the Walt Disney Company?
Source: CNBC
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Just from the MANY articles I’ve read, and reports I’ve seen on TV news, it seems that most of the problems, and I do see them as BIG problems, that are happening in the Disney company are being caused by one person – Chapek and perhaps some of the board members. It seems that the park experiences, along with guest, cast members, imagineers, and other employee matters are being pushed to the back while Disney+ and money making merchandise becoming the main focus of the company. Walt would not stand for this if he were still here. I’m a stock holder, D23 charter member, Disneyland Magic Key DreamLevel holder (Don’t get me started on that subject), former Annual Pass holder for many many years (I’m 71 years old) and I can honestly say that I’ve seen ALL of the things mentioned above going into decline, and it seems to all being caused by just a few people in charge who just don’t care about keeping EVERYTHING Disney magical for EVERYONE. They only care about the aspect that can make more money. Even as a “mid-level” stock holder, I’d rather see the magical experiences be there over seeing my stock values soar, because no one yet has become better than Disney at making this happen, though I now see that the decline is happening and it makes me very very sad.
It’s no longer the Disney I took my children to. Chapek is destroying the magic, and I will never return.