“We Thought We Made the Right Decision” — Disney CEO Bob Iger Comments on Bob Chapek Selection

November 2022 brought sudden DRASTIC changes to the Disney Company.

Bob Chapek and Bob Iger©CNBC

Bob Chapek was swiftly removed as CEO and Bob Iger returned to the position. Since that time we’ve seen a lot about what led to Chapek’s removal and what Iger felt about certain decisions Chapek had made. But now we’ve heard even more from Iger himself about the decision to pick Chapek as his successor.

Back in July of 2022, we shared that Iger reportedly regretted picking Chapek as his CEO successor. At that time, according to Business Insider, sources familiar with Iger’s thinking said Iger regretted “what he has called one of his worst business decisions: the selection of Bob Chapek as his successor.”

Reportedly Iger said that he didn’t realize Chapek was “such a ‘novice’ when it came to handling complex issues like talent management and political battles, and that Chapek was arrogant and uninterested in other people’s opinions.”

©Disney

So what does Iger have to say about the situation now? After all, upon Iger’s return, the Board specifically noted that he was back “with a mandate from the Board to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the Board in developing a successor to lead the Company at the completion of his term.”

Mark Parker, who will become the new Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Walt Disney Company after the next meeting of shareholders, has also become the head of a “newly created Succession Planning Committee of the Board, which will advise the Board on the CEO succession planning, including review of internal and external candidates.”

Bob Iger ©New York Post

According to CNBC, Iger has acknowledged that he has a lot to do at Disney, “in addition to helping the board ‘succeed at succession.'”

In discussing Chapek, Iger said “We thought we made the right decision when we chose Bob [Chapek] in 2020. The board decided in November he wasn’t the right person for the job and made a change.” Iger reportedly declined to “comment further on what led to the abrupt departure.”

According to Scott Gustin, Iger concluded by saying, “With any big decision, you should learn from what went wrong.”

Bob Chapek and Bob Iger at Cinderella Castle

When asked to go into detail about what went wrong or what Iger may not have seen properly when it comes to Chapek, however, Iger declined to answer.

Iger was asked if he wants to discuss what went wrong or what he "may not have seen properly" about Chapek:

Iger: "No, I'm not going to get into that."

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) February 9, 2023

Iger did note, however, that some of the changes Bob championed, particularly when it comes to certain Company restructurings were not things he agreed with. This seems to have been in reference to the creation and strengthening of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution division, which centralized decisions about distribution but also stripped creatives of power over those decisions.

Iger noted that this change created “a huge divide” between the creative side of the Company and the monetization side of the Company. Though Iger shared that Chapek may have had valid reasons why he wanted to do that, it was apparent to Iger that “that was a mistake” and there had to be a direct link between the people making the content and how things were brought to market. He said the distance created by the structure was not healthy for Disney at this time.

.@Disney CEO Bob Iger tells @davidfaber that the company's recently announced restructuring plan aims to repair the "huge divide" between the creative and monetization sides of the company, with turning streaming into a growth business a top priority. $DIS pic.twitter.com/UiqyZNKLkP

— Squawk on the Street (@SquawkStreet) February 9, 2023

Fixing that was one of the first things Iger was tasked with doing and massive changes were announced in terms of the organization of the Disney Company’s entertainment and distribution channels during the earnings call on February 8th. You can read more about those changes here.

We’ll continue to keep an eye out for more news about Iger’s time at Disney and the changes he will be making in the coming months. Stay tuned for the latest updates.

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The post "We Thought We Made the Right Decision" -- Disney CEO Bob Iger Comments on Bob Chapek Selection first appeared on the disney food blog.

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