Bob Iger retired as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company in February. Around that time, Disney was keeping an eye on the coronavirus. The company had already closed its theme park in Shanghai, but there was no indication that Disney was bracing for a global pandemic.
The announcement seemed sudden and out of the blue for those of us on the outside, but Disney announced that Iger would step away and Bob Chapek, head of the company’s theme park and cruise line business would fill his shoes.
Now though, according to The New York Times, it seems both Iger and Disney have backtracked and Iger is in charge again, leading conference calls and video conferences. He still retains the title of Executive Chairman with the company.
“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!” Iger said in an email to Times writer Ben Smith.
Iger is focused on making Disney a viable company for the world after Covid-19. Different sectors of the company, the Disney Parks, ESPN Events, even the movie studios owned by Disney, all rely on people gathering in large groups.
Lenders clearly have confidence in Iger and Disney’s ability to rebound. Despite the fact that the Walt Disney Company is currently losing around $30 million per day, it just secured a $6 billion loan at the end of last month.
Disney employed over 223,000 people as of last summer. Now though, employees across all divisions are being furloughed. All are keeping their benefits, but won’t receive a paycheck after April 19.
Iger has told some associates to brace for an end of some long-held practices, particularly in the television world. Even when the world gets back to business as usual, The New York Times reports that Iger has discussed doing away with expensive practices like producing pilots for every concept executives find interesting and advertising upfront presentations.
