Disney's Next CEO: Kevin Mayer Hints Bob Iger's Successor Will Be Revealed Soon

Jun 21, 2024 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Bob Iger

Posted: Friday June 21, 2024 8:45am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance, Kevin Mayer, Candle Media co-founder and former Disney executive, shared insights into Disney CEO Bob Iger's ongoing succession planning.

Mayer, an advisor to Iger, also provided a glimpse into whether the current Disney boss may make one more big move before his planned departure at the end of 2026.

Bob Iger at Walt Disney World

Mayer believes that the company is well-prepared for a smooth transition this time around. "Bob's there for two and a half more years. There's plenty of time," Mayer stated. He highlighted what he believes is a strong management team already in place: "They have a very, very solid management team across the board."

There are four internal candidates reportedly in the running for the Disney CEO role, which Iger occupied from 2005 to 2020 before his return in November 2022: Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chiefs of the entertainment division; Josh D'Amaro, head of the parks division; and Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN.

As for the timeline, Mayer indicated that an announcement might come sooner rather than later. "We may know this year, but he's got two and a half more years, so it wouldn't surprise me if it extended a little bit beyond this calendar year," he said.

Speaking of the future, one of the intriguing aspects of Mayer's comments was the hint at Iger possibly making another significant strategic move before his departure. "Do I think he wants to do one more big thing before he leaves? Possibly." Mayer speculated. This raises the question of what kind of legacy-defining move Iger might still be considering, especially given his history of transformative acquisitions like Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox.

You can see the full interview at Yahoo Finance.

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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/

HauntedPirate26 days ago

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

Magic Crush Drop26 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." 😏

Robbiem27 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?