Bob Iger comments on his extended contract as Walt Disney CEO in memo to Cast Members

Jul 12, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Bob Iger at Walt Disney World

Posted: Wednesday July 12, 2023 8:08pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney CEO Bob Iger has written to Cast Members sharing the news of his contract extension which will see him lead the company through 2026.

In the memo, Iger says, "We’ve made important and sometimes difficult decisions to address some existing structural and efficiency issues, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to achieve together. But there is more to accomplish before this transformative work is complete, and I am committed to seeing this through."

When Iger regained control of Disney from Bob Chapek in November 2022, his agreement with the board was to lead the company for two years and find his successor. Since his arrival, several high-profile executives have left, including one leading potential successor, CFO Christine McCarthy.

Bob Iger at Walt Disney World

We expect to hear more about his contract extension during a TV appearance with CNBC on Thursday morning.

Here is the full memo from Iger.

Dear Fellow Employees,

I want to thank you for your tremendous dedication, patience, and optimism as we’ve taken important steps to reposition the company for enduring creative and financial success. Since my return to Disney just seven months ago, I’ve examined virtually every facet of our businesses to fully understand the tremendous opportunities before us, as well as the challenges we face on numerous fronts.

We’ve made important and sometimes difficult decisions to address some existing structural and efficiency issues, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to achieve together. But there is more to accomplish before this transformative work is complete, and I am committed to seeing this through.

To that end, I’m writing to share that I have agreed to the Disney Board’s request to remain CEO for an additional two years – through the end of 2026.

As I’ve said many times since we began this important transformation of the company, our progress will not be linear as we continue navigating a difficult economic environment and the tectonic shifts occurring in our industry. This is a moment that requires us to remain steadfast, strategic, and clear-eyed about the road ahead.

It is also important to me that Disney is strongly positioned when my successor takes the helm. As the Board continues to evaluate a highly qualified slate of internal and external candidates, I remain intensely focused on a successful CEO transition.

Through it all, I am unwaveringly optimistic about Disney’s future. I believe in this company. I believe in the leadership team I have around me. And I believe in you – our spectacular employees and Cast Members. It’s an honor to work alongside you as we chart Disney’s path forward together, and I look forward to all that we will continue to achieve over the coming years.

Thank you for all you do,
Bob

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Comped27 minutes ago

Most divestures from the Fox purchase were forced by the EU or other governments to allow the deal to go through in the first place (except for A&E Europe which was a bad move on the EU's part IMO, as it was a rather useless divestiture). I'm sure Disney would have rather kept the lot (at least for a while). Disney owning Sky likely would have had very interesting ramifications for ESPN stateside (PL rights would have been nearly certain), but would have put a good amount of strain on Disney's profit margin.

HauntedPirate1 hour ago

Of course it is! Just ask Bob, he'll tell you so.

monothingie3 hours ago

They raised the bid by $3.2B. That's a big difference from the $20B that Comcast drove up the price for Disney to purchase 21CF. You seem to gloss over the $20B premium paid on top of the original deal as it was insignificant. I'm not sure how you get $40B from divestitures when it seemed to only total $15B with the majority of that coming from the sale of the Fox RSNs. This is misleading. The "General Audience" (Adult) programing is what Hulu brought to table and D+ was never intended to go down that route. You keep going back to the timeline developed at launch that D+ would be profitable by 2024 but there is so much context missing from that assessment. 1. There was never consideration of relying on an ad supported model. 2. There was never consideration of complete HULU integration. 3. The expected profits were going to be many times what is being realized now or even being forecast. 4. There was no expectation that the losses would have been so large. (They were basically blowing up a fleet of DCL cruise ships a year at the height of their losses.) D+ main challenge is going to be user churn and loss of retail subscribers via the constant price increases. If Bob's hot mic comment about ad-tier subscribers is accurate, then they are apparently underperforming in this subscriber segment. The "success" of DTC for Disney has not come from putting out a good product with good content, but rather through acquisitions, price increases, password crackdowns, and introducing an ad-supported tier. Like the experiences segment which showed growth mostly through price increases, is that truly a sustainable path?

MisterPenguin14 hours ago

Comcast did drive up the cost of Fox. But Disney returned the favor and bid up the cost of Sky, which Comcast bought. And now that Sky was overpriced, Disney sold their share of the overpriced Sky to Comcast. In the end, after buying Fox, Disney got $40M out of divestitures, drastically reducing the cost of Fox. Disney kept Fox out of competitors' hands. And transformed D+ content from "family" to "general audience" allowing them to set a new sub target after blowing through the first target in a manner of months. And Disney met their goal of when D+ would be profitable. In a competitive market, you're not going to have fantastical win after win. Even Netflix, the front runner, had a live-action streaming debacle. But that's not going to sink Netflix. And Disney isn't going to sink with several minor setbacks.

Brian15 hours ago

Two years ago tonight, Iger was abruptly reinstated as CEO and Chapek was relegated to the Disney archives.

BrianLo16 hours ago

There was immediate divestments of 30.5 billion dollars for the bigger ticket items. Many of them contingent and occurred with the purchase. Sky before. Hotstar most recently. I cannot find accessible numbers for True(X), Fox Next, TeleColombia, FoxSports Mexico, A&E Europe, Argentinian FoxSports. So in essence Disney is saddled with a 30-35B end price. Not 71. Hulu is worth 8.9 (at least). As for the other 20-25B, that’s the rub. FX, Searchlight, 20th century are the main keynotes. Along with their back catalogues and IP. They basically bought a general entertainment catalogue and production arm; which is not nothing. It’s actually a fairly strong general entertainment based arm. I’m not disagreeing that Bob was about to get an actual good deal and Roberts drove it up.

coffeefan16 hours ago

Since we're about to enter a new era of M&A Disney should consider buying SquareEnix. It would be such a great fit.

BrianLo16 hours ago

That’s what I’m referring to. Comcast bid Disney up 18B and then subsequently bought out Sky from them and paid at least 8.5B too much for it in the process. It’s kind of a wash for who overpaid more when they split the difference, but Roberts certainly doesn’t come off smart, with the better asset, nor laughing.

monothingie17 hours ago

So that Bob could overpay by $20B. This was personal for Bob and he was not going to let Brian steal the largest deal of his career. Brian knew that and played Bob to over pay. Other than the 1/3 of Hulu from Fox can you let me know what they got that is currently profitable for them and justified the $71B spent?

Stripes17 hours ago

Didn’t Comcast bid $65 billion? So you’re saying Comcast would have overpaid by $14 billion? I think, in the end, Disney has gotten their money’s worth out of 21CF. And due to the strength of those assets they are uniquely well positioned in the future.

Stripes18 hours ago

ARPU went up by 2.66% for domestic Disney+ in FY24. Rupert got a lot more Disney stock and became Disney’s 2nd largest shareholder which could very well come in handy over the next 4 years.

monothingie18 hours ago

This dates back to before the Hulu buyout. This was during the bidding war for 21CF where Disney overpaid by close to $20+B.

monothingie18 hours ago

The carriage deal with Charter resulted in a higher number of subscribers to D+. (6M) Albeit as wholesale subscriber accounts with a much lower ARPU. How much more did Rupert get for 21CF because Brian played Iger’s ego?