Bob Chapek comments publicly about his time as CEO of Disney

Sep 06, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

Gallery / 2 Photos
Bob Chapek

Posted: Wednesday September 6, 2023 10:52am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In one of the most in-depth retellings of the turmoil surrounding the CEO role at Disney, CNBC shares in great detail the events that led to the firing of Bob Chapek, and the return of Bob Iger as Disney's CEO.

Bob Iger (left), Bob Chapek (right)

The inside story is based on conversations with more than two dozen people who worked closely with Iger and Chapek between 2020 and 2022.

Most of the key players declined to comment on the report, but Chapek did add to the account via a brief comment made by a spokesperson.

"Bob is proud of the work he did in the course of his 30-year career at Disney, particularly during his nearly three-year run as CEO, steering the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, and setting the course for business transformation as he and his team took the disruptive yet necessary steps for business revitalization and long-term growth."

Bob Chapek

The CNBC story by Alex Sherman also suggests that in Chapek's final weeks as CEO, board members had set up discussions with Disney division heads, including Parks boss Josh D'Amaro, who all told board members that they no longer supported Chapek as CEO.

Read the full story "Disney's wildest ride: Iger, Chapek and the making of an epic succession mess" at CNBC.

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BrianLo17 days ago

Not at all. Comcast wanted Fox and Disney wanted Sky. They both lost something, but Roberts only got the stinker and Dis was bid up unnecessarily. The only one who truly came out on top was Murdoch. Unless I’m misunderstanding you and you think Comcast didn’t want Fox?

Lilofan17 days ago

Not too shabby Iger and his wife bought the Angel soccer team for $250M.

monothingie17 days ago

You're incorrectly assuming that the Fox/Disney was not serious about pursuing the remainder of Sky. "Another source told CNBC that Comcast executives thought there was a decent chance Fox was simply bluffing and didn’t actually want Sky at all. But bidding £15.67 per share suggested Disney did, in fact, want Sky. Otherwise it would have bid much lower in Round 3, the source said." Fox/Disney wanted Sky. Yes they raised the price, but that's what a bidding war does. Unlike the Disney acquisition bidding war over Fox, Dis actually benefited from Comcast’s overpayment. Comcast has also already written down 8.6B, which is technically an admittance of having overpaid. Only the Indian sub arm of the Fox acquisition has yielded an impairment thus far for Dis and that was only 1.5B. I won’t lie that Brian Robert’s successfully intervened with probably a steal Iger had negotiated. Not probably, I know it was worth more than 54B since they’ve divested 35+ and Hulu is worth at least 8.9… but Roberts was the far bigger loser in the matter thus far… Hindsight and such makes it very easy to look back and tell people what they should have done almost a decade earlier.

Nevermore52517 days ago

Yeah the content spend for D+ is much better with what their current revenue is. They still have high SG&A costs for streaming.

BrianLo17 days ago

This is also incorrect. Sky’s value was bid up 14.75B by a back and forth between Fox, Comcast and Disney. The Fox acquisition was technically 18.9B bid up. The original Sky agreement was for Fox to acquire the remainder of the shares at £10.75 per share. When all was said and done Comcast had bid up to £17.72; and was buying the whole thing, it wasn’t already sitting on Fox’s portion since it lost the other bidding war. Unlike the Disney acquisition bidding war over Fox, Dis actually benefited from Comcast’s overpayment. Comcast has also already written down 8.6B, which is technically an admittance of having overpaid. Only the Indian sub arm of the Fox acquisition has yielded an impairment thus far for Dis and that was only 1.5B. I won’t lie that Brian Robert’s successfully intervened with probably a steal Iger had negotiated. Not probably, I know it was worth more than 52.4B since they’ve divested 35+ and Hulu is worth at least 8.9… but Roberts was the far bigger loser in the matter thus far…

flynnibus17 days ago

More significantly- they are delivering on the promised turnarounds - like reduced d+ spending and the return of the dividend. I assume the d+ margin is on track too (didn’t see news yet)

Nevermore52517 days ago

Last 4 Quarters of profit for the company overall was the best since 2018, so makes sense the dividend would see a bump for shareholders.

BrianLo17 days ago

I know this is a little old, but you didn’t get a response. These are the major divestures; Sky - 15 Fox Sports 10.6 YES - 3.5 Endemol - 2.2 Star - 3B Spinoff + 1.5B impairment These are the ones I can’t find numbers on; True(X), Fox Next, TeleColombia, FoxSports Mexico, A&E Europe, Argentinian FoxSports Penguins number may have been a tad generous in the assumption, but yours is too low. It’s at least 35B and change.

DCBaker17 days ago

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-walt-disney-company-declares-cash-dividend-of-1-00-per-share.985207/

HauntedPirate27 days ago

Allegedly this money is earmarked for the futbol club he and Willow bought.

Magic Crush Drop27 days ago

Not being subtle at all.

Doberge27 days ago

The interview with Good Morning America where Bob is asked if he's more Pua or Hei Hei and he answers, "I'm not sure... I'm more Maui, right? Demigod." 😏

Robbiem28 days ago

He really is turning into the corporate villain from a 70s Disney movie, he needs to meet some children trying to save their home to teach him how to enjoy life. Maybe they give him Herbie as his corporate car?