Iger is back and Chapek is out...

[gharter]

Did not see that coming.
I thought from day one, Bob was a short term CEO brought in to do the dirty work that the Disney Board wanted done that would be unpopular. Then he leaves, the board says, we never thought he would do what he did, blame him and they bring in the long term answer. They did all of that except I didn't see Igor coming back. I expected to see a new long term CEO announced.

 

[ChristmasJay83]

Has anyone checked on Pete? Is he ok?

 

[Fauntleroy]

Holy smokes!

Honestly, recall pulling for Chapek out of the gate. Thought maybe some "Midwest sensibility" might be helpful (potential throwback to Walt's roots) after decades of "Hollywood slickness" with Eisner/Iger (two men I nonetheless admire). Not to be.

At any rate, many will critique the policies/cost-cutting- but to me Chapek's main failing was that his passion for the company/brand just never seemed to come through. Hard to get people excited about merely leading "XYZ Corp." to enhanced profitability. No vision- at least that was well-articulated- in a "vision" job. Best wishes in his future endeavors though.

Meanwhile, welcome back Iger! Hope/pray there's plenty left in the tank for another great run!

 

[Pills]

Hopefully, some of the things that were in place because of the pandemic (e.g. park reservations, hopping after 2:00) will be gone. ILLs, too - they may be profitable, but they really do not leave a good taste in people's mouths.

I think Genie+ will stay, as it is somewhat a combination of MaxPass and FastPass, but I can see it being tweaked.

 

[afan]

Chapek getting immediately fired on a Sunday night is pretty remarkable. Something must have happened.

He stepped down, he wasn't fired. Read into that what you want. He may have been asked to resign to save face. If it truly happened on Friday I can't imagine it was anything other than him resigning on his own. The board would have known they needed someone to step in and would have been able to work all that out prior. But if he did it Fri and they needed Iger then I can see it taking 2 days of convincing and bargaining to get the deal worked out. This is a much better Friday news dump than a Sunday night dump.

 

[cakebaker]

his passion for the company/brand just never seemed to come through.

That's because it didn't exist. His passion was himself.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

“ I am deeply honored to be asked to again lead this remarkable team, with a clear mission focused on creative excellence to inspire generations through unrivaled, bold storytelling. “

This quote tonight by Igor is better than anything Chapek has ever said

 

[Jafar30]

Wow

 

[TheDailyMoo]

one day I’ll search for my posts from last year that outlined this very event. Fallguy Cheapek did all the dirty stuff that Iger always wanted and will get his Golden Parachute as a thanks. Don’t think Iger is going to suddenly reverse course but he’ll never be looked at as the bad guy. Mission accomplished.

 

[LynJ]

I love that he immediately emailed all cast members. Class act. And the tone, to me, was just right! (Not a cast member, but I read the email online.)

 

[chasgeese]

I highly doubt we are going to see any positive changes to the parks. Chapek got the job as Iger’s successor because his maximizing revenue at the expense of guest experience, while still keeping the parks full was successful. From a financial perspective the parks continue to be a bright spot in Disney’s portfolio. Iger is being brought back to right the ship from the studio and Disney+ perspective. If anything, there is going to be more cost cutting and price gouging at the parks until it starts hurting revenue.

 

[HopperFan]

I wonder if there was some huge disagreement over the Global Dream purchase. It seems like a random sudden move. Unless its just stemming from the stock dropping lately.

4th Quarter reporting is now done and calculated.

"Earlier this month, Disney stock suffered its worst day since 2001 following what one analyst termed a “massive earnings downgrade,” after the company in its fourth-quarter earnings report forecast a significantly softer-than-expected, single-digit growth in the coming fiscal year, far below analysts’ consensus view of 25% growth." ~ Market Watch.

The problem with Chapek is rather than work towards growth, he created false "profits" by cuts everywhere he can, raising prices everywhere he can. Not sustainable. He was never right for this job, his resume wasn't strong enough to lead a company like this.

Too bad the Board is so out of touch with this company that they renewed his contract only to have the company stumble further and make them look like fools. ALL of the Board needs to go next round, and right now Christine McCarthy CFO needs to go with him. She is the "financial" leader, she has failed.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Demand remains high, thus I don’t see any positive changes in regards to cost.

But Iger “gets” Disney magic, he “gets” imagineering, he just “gets” Disney. Chapek never did, and never will. You can’t fake that.

One thing that will instantly change… morale. A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow begins with Iger on top

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

He stepped down, he wasn't fired. Read into that what you want. He may have been asked to resign to save face. If it truly happened on Friday I can't imagine it was anything other than him resigning on his own. The board would have known they needed someone to step in and would have been able to work all that out prior. But if he did it Fri and they needed Iger then I can see it taking 2 days of convincing and bargaining to get the deal worked out. This is a much better Friday news dump than a Sunday night dump.

You don’t “step down” as CEO of a major corporation with no notice. He was fired.

 

[chasgeese]

Chapek getting immediately fired on a Sunday night is pretty remarkable. Something must have happened.

It’s not that shocking. The board would rather the news get out before trading starts on Monday so it can maximize the effect of the announcement. Sunday firings are pretty common for major corporations like Disney.

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chapek stepped down (at the behest of the board). Basically there’s no way this wasn’t planned out well in advance to happen this way. Especially given the timing of a Sunday announcement before Thanksgiving week. I bet this has been in the world since the disastrous stock response to the shareholder call.

 

[nikem3]

4th Quarter reporting is now done and calculated.

"Earlier this month, Disney stock suffered its worst day since 2001 following what one analyst termed a “massive earnings downgrade,” after the company in its fourth-quarter earnings report forecast a significantly softer-than-expected, single-digit growth in the coming fiscal year, far below analysts’ consensus view of 25% growth." ~ Market Watch.

The problem with Chapek is rather than work towards growth, he created false "profits" by cuts everywhere he can, raising prices everywhere he can. Not sustainable. He was never right for this job, his resume wasn't strong enough to lead a company like this.

Too bad the Board is so out of touch with this company that they renewed his contract only to have the company stumble further and make them look like fools. ALL of the Board needs to go next round, and right now Christine McCarthy CFO needs to go with him. She is the "financial" leader, she has failed.

My understanding is that this is what Iger wanted in the first place anyways. To train up a successor versus what happened previously. I'm not holding my breath for any major changes coming soon. I have a feeling this will be a very transitionary period for Disney. However, I'd place money on some sort of fan favorite announcement coming soon. My guess is on new park hopping rules.

 

[Delirium]

The chances of me and my family ever returning improved slightly. Still need to see some positive steps in the right direction, but nothing can be worse than what we've experienced with Chapek.

 

[squirk]

He stepped down, he wasn't fired. Read into that what you want.

Anyone who's worked in corporate America for any length of time knows that there is resigning, and then there is "resigning."

When you step down immediately, with absolutely no advance public notice, after a pretty rotten earnings report, are not given a chance to bid a farewell, and you are given a generic "thank you for your service over your long career," you didn't resign. You "resigned."

I know the company overall has bigger issues to address, but I'd love to think that Iger and the board recognizes that Chapek was squeezing the parks WAY too tight, WAY too quickly. While he may have been getting some upfront revenue, he was also committing some long-term brand damage that would ultimately hurt revenue and profitability long-term.

But I don't have access to any real data, and nobody asked me anyway, so who knows? But it's nice to dream that we've been vindicated in some small way.

I guess we will see which, if any, of Chapek's changes in the parks get clawed back.

 

[Stinkomann20x6]

Has anyone checked on Pete? Is he ok?

Same thing I thought lol! I'm imagining like that Will Ferrel gif "WE'RE GOING STREAKING!!!!!" but I won't post that here for obvious reasons haha

 

[recmouse]

Yay!! Hoping for the best!