How Everything Changed for Disney CEO Bob Iger Overnight

When Bob Iger returned to The Walt Disney Company in late 2022, fans celebrated — the hero was back to save the day. Or so we thought.

Iger has led a number of changes since his return: bringing free hotel parking back, getting rid of Park Pass Reservations for select visitors, and offering more incentives to get people in the parks — each being a very welcome update. But, Disney stock prices have struggled lately, and Iger doesn’t seem to be helping with recent comments.

On July 12th, it was announced that Bob Iger’s contract as Disney CEO had been extended until 2026, and we had already seen stock prices close at $90.15 by the time the news broke. It stood to reason that Disney stock would rise following the announcement — that is, after all, what happened when Iger returned in November 2022.

But ultimately, those increases didn’t stick around for too long. Right around noon on December 29th, Disney stock was trading at $87.79 — 43% lower than it had been at the same time the year prior.

Not only was this a decrease from when Iger took over, but it also marked the worst year for Disney stocks since 1974.

Then, on July 13th Iger appeared in a CNBC interview where he shared his comments on the future of ESPN, potentially selling off television assets, and the actors’ strike. Stock values didn’t fluctuate too drastically, increasing slightly to $90.47, and all seemed relatively fine.

However, later on July 13th, the actors union officially voted to strike and people started turning on Iger.

Iger spoke to CNBC about what this could mean for the future of entertainment.

“It’s very disturbing to me,” Iger said in regard to the SAG-AFTRA strike combined with the WGA strike. He explained that the entertainment industry as a whole is still trying to recover after COVID-19 halted film and television production across the board.

“This is the worst time to add to that disruption,” Iger continued. Iger stated that he understood the strikes were a result of labor organizations advocating for their members, but he did say that some studios had already made decent negotiations with the directors guild. While the studios wanted to do the same with writers and actors, the expectation that they already had in place was just “unrealistic.”

Iger continued on the subject, stating, “You have to be realistic about the business environment.”

Now that the actors guild has officially gone on strike, many have spoken out against Iger’s comments. Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA President, said, “If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors.” She also commented that Iger’s comments were “repugnant,” “out of touch,” and “tone-deaf.”

Actor Anthony Rapp responded to Iger’s comments and said, “I don’t think it’s realistic for Bob Iger and other CEOs to make 27, 35, 200 million dollars a year and expect that the labor that allows them to make that kind of money demands fair wages.”

Anthony Rapp: "I don't think it's realistic for Bob Iger and other CEOs to make 27, 35, 200 million dollars a year and expect that the labor that allows them to make that kind of money demands fair wages." https://t.co/ZxyhOOnavK pic.twitter.com/JDqEvlY0VG

— Variety (@Variety) July 14, 2023

Abigail Disney also criticized Iger’s comments, sharing that he can only call his workers “unrealistic” if he can’t see “beyond the confines of the narrow and morally bankrupt business ideology that has set your company on this long track toward exploitation and injustice.”

You can only call your workers and partners "unrealistic" if you cannot see beyond the confines of the very narrow and morally bankrupt business ideology that has set your company on this long track toward exploitation and injustice. #Disney #Iger #WritersStrike #SAGAFTRA https://t.co/SDtrLzflB8

— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) July 13, 2023

And Cody Ziglar, writer on Disney and Marvel’s She-Hulk, shared a post saying they had only received a $396 check for the episode they wrote.

The residual check from my episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was $396. https://t.co/TcS6WO1MjL

— Cody Ziglar (updates mostly) (@yayforzig) July 13, 2023

And it doesn’t appear to only be members of the entertainment industry turning on Iger — stock prices have also fallen. On July 14th, Disney’s stock value closed at $88.62, and at $85.56 on July 17th. July 18th saw prices at $85.95, and these reflect some of the lowest we’ve seen all year.

At the beginning of the year, Disney stock was trading at around $88.97, and reached a high in February at $113.21.

Of course, a variety of factors contribute to stock prices, and it’s possible that Iger’s comments had nothing to do with the drop in value at all. But, when negative news or press is circulating about a company, it can cause investors to lose confidence and thus potentially sell shares. The world economy, interest rates, and more can also impact stock values.

Iger also mentioned selling off certain television assets (specifically ABC) during the CNBC interview as well. Iger said the company would be “expansive” in how it thinks about traditional TV, with the door being left open to selling the networks it owns. “They may not be core to Disney,” he said.

He also talked about when he left the company, he had already been “very pessimistic” about the future of traditional television and believes that now that he’s returned as Disney’s CEO, he feels he was right in that thinking and that it’s worse than he originally thought. “There’s a reality to it that we have to come to grips with,” he said.

Disney also currently owns 67% of Hulu, while NBCUniversal owns the remaining 33%. Although it almost seemed certain that Disney once wanted to sell its stake in Hulu, Iger has since shifted to a different mindset and has even mentioned integrating Hulu and Disney+ content. That could happen by the end of 2023. Iger said, “The combination of those apps is designed to obviously help the [streaming] business become profitable”

Disney will be reporting its third-quarter earnings for 2023 on August 9th, 2023. Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see what ends up happening with the future of Disney stock, streaming, and Bob Iger.

With his contract being extended into 2026, we have a couple of years to wait it out. In the meantime, we’ll be sure to keep you updated with the latest Disney news, so stay tuned to AllEars for more.

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What do you think of the recent Disney changes? Tell us in the comments.

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