Everything That’s Happened Since Bob Iger Became Disney CEO

On November 20th, Disney made an announcement that surprised many Disney fans and employees — Bob Iger would be returning as Disney CEO.

There are a lot of changes to keep up with as Disney goes through this transitional time, so we compiled a list of everything that has happened since Bob Iger became CEO. Let’s get into it.

November 20th

As we mentioned above, the news was announced by Disney on the night of Sunday, November 20th. Effective immediately, Bob Iger was CEO of Disney again and Bob Chapek had cut ties with the company.

November 21st

By the next morning on Monday, November 21st, stock prices were on the rise following the announcement. We also got some more insight on why Iger replaced Chapek when he did. The decision came from the board after they saw the disappointing results of the Q4 earnings call where Disney reported financial losses for Disney+ again.

Almost immediately after the news dropped, it blew up on social media with many celebrities and Disney employees commenting on Twitter. Former CEO Michael Eisner tweeted “Welcome back to Disney, Bob Iger!” and we also saw posts from former Imagineers and current animators.

Welcome back to Disney, @RobertIger!

— Michael Eisner (@Michael_Eisner) November 21, 2022

Later in the day on November 21st, a new SEC filing revealed Bob Iger’s new salary of $1 million with the possibility of a 100% bonus.

We also learned that Bob Chapek, who had recently extended his contract to remain CEO through 2026, would leave the company with nearly $23 million after feeling “blindsided” by this decision. Following this news, Kareem Daniel (also known as Chapek’s “right-hand man”) left The Walt Disney Company as well.

That is all of the information that was released within 24 hours of the original announcement, and now that we have more context of why the decision was made, we went on to see more of Iger’s first steps as CEO.

November 22nd-27th

We reached out to our readers to ask what changes they wanted to see now that Iger was CEO and many of the answers were about reverting certain aspects of Disney back to how they were before the COVID-19 closures. This includes Park Pass Reservations, Genie+, and more.

Since Iger is still new to the position, he is settling in and has not made any major decisions that many Disney fans want to see. At this point, only time will tell what changes Iger will make.

On November 23rd, Disney announced that Iger would be holding a Town Hall meeting for Disney employees where he would share his vision for the company. This is the first time Iger would answer questions from employees in person since becoming CEO.

At this point, the big exits for Disney had been Bob Chapek and Kareem Daniel, but on November 25th, Disney announced that Arthur Bochner, who wrote speeches for Chapek, was leaving the company.

November 28th

At the Town Hall meeting held by Iger on November 28th, he commented on and answered questions about several topics, however, several answers were not too in-depth as he is still settling into the position.

During the meeting, he commented on the Park Pass Reservation system saying he hasn’t used the service himself and wants to talk to Chairman Josh D’Amaro before commenting on it further. He also shared that the hiring freeze introduced by Chapek would continue and he didn’t have a decision about moving thousands of employees to Central Florida.

Iger addressed the rumors that Disney would be sold to Apple saying they were merely “speculation”. Lastly, Iger discussed some of the controversies surrounding Disney and its role in political situations like the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Read all about his comments on that topic here.

November 29th

The next day, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner tweeted saying that Disney has “suffered” followed by a quote from Walt Disney.

The Walt Disney Company has suffered in recent years. This is a good time for us to remember the words of Walt Disney who said, “Everybody falls down. Getting back up is how you learn to walk.”

— Michael Eisner (@Michael_Eisner) November 29, 2022

December 1st

Following Iger’s comments on Disney’s place in politics and saying he was “sorry to see [Disney] dragged into this” regarding the issues around Reedy Creek, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded. DeSantis said Disney did this to themselves and said, “I don’t care what a Burbank-based, California company says about our laws.” Read DeSantis’ full response here.

Also on this day, Disney issued a statement as Cast Members held rallies for better pay. Disney spokesperson Andrea Finger spoke out about Disney’s intentions and plan — read all about it here.

Disney released a report about what the company needs from Iger’s return saying “within the coming months Mr. Iger will initiate organizational and operating changes within the Company to address the Board’s goals.” They also hope to see changes in the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution area.

December 2nd

As of December 2nd, it was reported that Florida lawmakers were working to reverse the decision to dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District in some ways. In this modification, Disney would still have control — one of the lawmakers who helped with the dissolution said, “Chapek screwed up, but Bob Iger doesn’t have to own that screw-up.”

December 5th

After a few quite days, Iger shared a message to celebrate the man who started it all — Walt Disney. December 5th is Walt Disney’s birthday.

Walt Disney would have turned 121 years old today!  How lucky we are for the life he lived and the legacy he left. Happy birthday, Walt! pic.twitter.com/KGEDzfC0gt

— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) December 5, 2022

December 6th

The next day, a “top contender” for the next Disney CEO following Iger emerged — current CFO Christine McCarthy. It has not been confirmed if she is in the running, but one Disney insider said it’s a possibility.

Bob Iger attended the Sandy Hook Promise Benefit in New York on December 6th and spoke out against gun violence. Iger shared that preventing shootings “should be among our highest priorities.” He also said, “Those of us who are in positions to affect change, whether it’s by influencing laws of shaping culture or supporting organizations on the frontlines, I think we have an extra responsibility.”

December 9th

Disney announced that guests can now modify their Genie+ Lightning Lane selections without having to cancel the original selection first. This was a significant change, as many guests had been asking Disney to allow Genie modifications since the new service was originally launched.

In the past, guests had to cancel their original Lightning Lane selections to look for a different return time for an attraction. You can learn how to modify a Genie+ reservation here.

December 21st

As 2022 came to an end, Iger sent a message to all D23 members (and Disney fans in general), where he expressed his gratitude and teased some exciting news.

In part, Iger’s message read, “As we approach the end of 2022, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to the biggest Disney fans in the world – all of you.” Iger went on to discuss Disney’s 100th Anniversary, teasing, “During the coming year, D23 will launch a slate of exciting events to mark this historic milestone. “

January 6th

As 2023 began, the fight to dissolve Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District continued. Osceola County posted a notice to its website with an update on the status of the Reedy Creek district. You can read more about the notice here.

The notice outlined its “intent to seek legislation before the Florida Legislature, during a regular, extended, or special session, of an act relating to the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Orange, and Osceola Counties.”

January 9th

Early January also marked the start of the return-to-office requirement for many Disney employees. In an email to Disney’s hybrid employees, Iger told Cast Members that they must return to the office for four days a week starting on March 1st, 2023.

By February, Disney employees expressed their anger with the new requirement, according to The Washington Post. Employees started a petition asking Iger to reconsider the mandate garnering thousands of signatures.

January 10th

January 10th was a big news day for the Walt Disney Company. The company addressed some major changes coming to Disney World — all of which were changes Disney fans had expressed interest in prior to the announcement.

Disney announced April 4th as both the opening date for the TRON coaster and the return date for the Magic Kingdom’s ‘Happily Ever After’ fireworks show. Further, Disney shared that EPCOT Forever would officially return to EPCOT on April 3rd, 2023.

Starting January 10th, Disney also reinstated free overnight self-parking for Disney World hotel guests. Another major perk was given exclusively to Annual Passholders: starting in April, Disney World Annual Passholders no longer need a park pass reservation to visit the parks after 2PM, with the exception of Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays.

January 11th-February 9th

The huge Disney executive shakeup continued into the new year, with Mark Parker announced to take over as Chairman of the Board.

Parker was also tasked to join the Succession Planning Committee of the Board — a committee that will advise the next CEO after Bob Iger. You can learn more about Parker’s previous roles and the Board of Directors here.

Despite the news of Disney’s newly-appointed Board member, activist investor Nelson Peltz of the Trian Group Trian filed a preliminary proxy statement that sought to put Peltz on Disney’s board. The battle for a seat on the board continued to rage on.

Disney responded with a statement notifying shareholders that the Board did not endorse Peltz. Then, following the Q1 earnings call for The Walt Disney Company,  Nelson Peltz announced that “the proxy fight is over” (CNBC). Peltz went on to voice his support for Iger and The Walt Disney Company.

January 19th

By mid-January Disney CEO Bob Iger decided to pay a visit to Disney World. He shared a post on social media with the caption, “Had a great visit to @WaltDisneyWorld this week and I’m always so inspired by our spectacular cast members, who bring such talent and dedication to everything they do. Thank you!”

January 23rd

 January 23rd, 2023 marked the closure of Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom.

The ride will be rethemed to a Princess and the Frog-themed ride called Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which is expected to open in late 2024.

February 8th

February 8th marked Iger’s first earnings call back as CEO. There were some huge announcements and noteworthy moments during the call, including the news that the company plans $5.5 billion in cost-cutting, starting with 7,000 job cuts.

Iger also reinforced his interest in guest satisfaction and acknowledged that price increases had not been received well by consumers. You can read more about the earnings call here.

As a result of the news we learned about in the earnings call, another wild round of executive restructuring took place.  Rebecca Campbell, Chairperson of International Content and Operations decided to leave the company — or was “squeezed out,” per New York Times journalist Brooks Barnes.

March 13th

As March started, the company announced a new Chief Human Resources Officer in the latest round of executive restructuring. Disney announced that Sonia Coleman was named Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer on March 13th, 2023.

Bob Iger announced that the leadership change would be effective starting April 8th, 2023.

March 23rd-March 29th

March also marked an important milestone for Cast Members.  Cast Member union negotiations heated up in early 2023 when thousands of Cast Members rejected Disney’s latest contract offer, and later negotiations were suspended after the unions said Disney’s new offer was “even worse” than before.

Finally, union members reached an agreement with Disney that all Disney workers that fall under the agreement will have their wages increased to a minimum of $18 per hour this year.

Additionally, the unions “secured” the retroactive backpay for all workers that was on the table, and secured the ability to increase the value of the contract. You can read the full details here.

The six labor unions that represent 43,000 full- and part-time Cast Members at Disney World voted to approve the new contract on March 29th.

March 28th-March 29th

As part of Disney’s plan to eliminate and restructure, The Wall Street Journal reported that The Walt Disney Company eliminated its next-generation storytelling and consumer-experiences unit — a.k.a. the unit responsible for the Disney metaverse.

Several more job cuts began the same week, including Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac Perlmutter. Perlmutter was known to feud with Bob Iger.

April 3rd

Interestingly, just a few weeks after Disney began laying off thousands of employees, Bob Iger shared some big plans for growth during the company’s 2023 Annual Shareholder Meeting. In a statement about how Disney plans to preserve shareholder value, Iger stated that they are “currently planning now to invest over $17 billion in Walt Disney World over the next 10 years.”

This new spending plan could bring an additional 13,000 jobs to the company, and thousands of potential indirect jobs.

April 6th

In April, Disney announced that the hourly pay rate for Disney College Program participants will start at $16 per hour beginning June 4th. This is an increase from the $14 per hour rate paid to participants.

The same day, Disney confirmed that new sales for Annual Passes, including the Incredi-Pass, Sorcerer Pass, and Pirate Pass, resume on April 20th, 2023. Disney noted that the quantity of the passes will be limited and certain passes may sell out.

A few days later, Disney also announced that the Disneyland Resort version of annual passes known as Magic Keys would go on sale on April 11th, 2023.

If you want to learn more about Bob Iger’s return as CEO, check out the posts below:

• How the Parks Have CHANGED in Bob Iger’s First 100 Days Back as Disney CEO
• Why Bob Iger’s Return to Disney May Be Doomed From the Start
• What Could Actually CHANGE Due to Bob Iger’s Return as Disney’s CEO
• Bob Iger vs. Bob Chapek: How Different Are They Really?
• CEO Bob Iger Was Reportedly “Alarmed by Increases in Prices” at the Disney Parks
• How Bob Iger’s Return Could Impact the Reedy Creek District Dissolution
• What Triggered an “Uproar” at Disney Before Bob Iger’s Return
• Will Disney’s Stock Numbers Recover Under Bob Iger’s Reign? What We Know.
• Easy Ways Bob Iger Could Win Over Disney Fans
• Is Bob Iger Returning to Disney a Good Thing? What Experts Are Saying.

We’ll continue to update this post with more information as Bob Iger makes more decisions as CEO of Disney. Iger’s contract is set to end on December 31st, 2024, and then a new CEO will take his place.

Stay tuned for more updates from The Walt Disney Company.

What do you think about Iger’s return as CEO? Tell us in the comments.

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