The Walt Disney Company has just brought Bob Iger back as Chief Executive Officer after Bob Chapek stepped down from the position.
The announcement was made on the evening of Sunday, November 20th, and as early as Monday morning, we saw Disney’s stock prices surge. Chapek was only CEO of The Walt Disney Company from February of 2020 until November of 2022, and now, we’re learning more about why this decision was made.
Disney’s board reportedly reached out to Bob Iger on Friday, November 18th, according to CNBC’s David Faber. It was said that Disney reached out to Iger without any other serious candidates in mind to replace Bob Chapek as CEO.
The board reaching out to Iger came after concerns due to Disney’s most recent quarterly earnings report.
Disney had their fourth quarter earnings call earlier in November and reported that revenues for the quarter grew 9%, while revenues for the year grew 23%. Disney reported $21.3 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022, which was down from Q3, but up from the same time of the previous year.
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products revenues for Q4 went up to $7.4 billion, compared to $5.5 billion in same quarter for 2021, which was a 26% increase. Disney also reported record annual results in this division, with segment operating income increasing from $0.9 billion to $1.5 billion compared to $0.6 billion in the prior-year quarter.
Bob Chapek said at the time that overall, Disney was pleased with their growth. But, CNBC reported that Disney’s Q4 earnings report disappointed on profit and certain key revenue segments. AÂ few days after the earnings call, Chapek said that Disney would cut costs with hiring freezes and layoffs, among other things.
The report also included the updated amount of Disney+ subscribers, with 12.1 million being added in the quarter, bringing the total to 164.2 million subscribers. However, Chapek also said that its growing streaming numbers would probably slow down in the future.
Faber reported that some internal candidates were identified for the position of CEO that might be able to take the job over time, Disney’s board did not want to put someone new in the position due to the current pressures on the company.
Chapek was reportedly told of this decision on Sunday night. Sunday night is also when the announcement was publicly made by Disney that the change would be happening. Iger’s return to the position is effective immediately.
Disney’s shares went up about 9% on Monday after the news of Iger returning to the position of CEO.
For more on this recent change, check out the following posts:
- BREAKING: Bob Chapek Stepping Down As Disney CEO, Bob Iger Returns to Position
- NEWS: Disney Stock Prices Rise After Iger Announced as CEO
- Bob Iger Thinks Choosing Bob Chapek as Next Disney CEO Was a Mistake
- 5 Secrets You Didn’t Know About Disney CEO Bob Chapek
Stay tuned to AllEars for more Disney news and updates.
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Let us know how you feel about this leadership change in the comments.
This change was all about profits, or not enough of it. Bottom line. Replaced by the same guy who hand picked him. This was not the board listening to angry visitors tired by all the eliminated park perks or Genie Plus or being nickel and dimed for everything when you visit. No reason to imagine any of that is changing.
Its about time this happened. Hopefully Iger will spend the money to fix the rides that are constantly breaking down. On mu most recent visit literally half of the time we went to get on a ride it was down. That’s unacceptable considering the price we are charged for tickets and genie plus.