Disney CEO, Robert A. Iger having returned to the company in November of 2022 continued to consolidate Disney business. After serving as CEO and Chairman of Disney companies from 2005 to 2020, and then as Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board through 2021. Robert Iger has served as the Disney CEO for more than 15 years. It’s hard to emphasize exactly how massive an impact Iger made in his tenure at Disney companies. Iger, as Disney CEO is widely regarded as one of the most successful CEOs in history. However, his legacy is still being debated.
Since returning as Disney CEO, Mr. Iger has led a significant, enterprise-wide transformation to restore creativity to the center of the company and position Disney’s business for sustained growth and profitability. It’s high time that we look back on Iger and his many accomplishments at Disney companies.
Going the distance in transforming Disney World
Bob Iger first joined the Walt Disney Company in 1996; In January of 2000, he was promoted as the president and COO of the Walt Disney Companies, serving as the number-two man to Michael Eisner, the then CEO of Disney. Before he became the Disney CEO, Iger wasn’t automatically thought of as a natural fit for the role by Eisner as a top boss for Disney business, nor was he always held in the best acclaim by his peers. And Eisner, only a couple years before Iger took over as Disney CEO, was dismissive in saying that Iger could never run the company. But Bob Iger ended up being the perfect person to take the place of Michael Eisner.
In 2020, Iger is about as powerful a CEO as you can think of; he’s going out on top. In 2005, he was installed as a more balanced leader in place of Eisner.
Growth of Disney business to infinity and beyond
One of the biggest sources of tension for the Walt Disney Company in the mid 2000s was Pixar Animation Studios. Soon after he started as CEO of Disney, he went to work on John Lasseter and Jobs, eventually getting them to sell Pixar to Disney for a whopping but well-earned $7.4 billion. That was just the beginning of a leadership tenure marked by smart and savvy mergers, which have led the Walt Disney Companies to a point of success almost everyone would have thought impossible 15 years ago. Attendance numbers at the major Disney World theme parks in the U.S. skyrocketed in the 15 years due to smart Disney marketing, and to the swift decision to add even more intellectual property in attractions and live entertainment.
Disney business strategy to engulf and devour
Of course, it helps when you buy everything. If Bob Iger excelled at anything during his time at the top of the Walt Disney Companies is acquiring as much as humanly possible. Admittedly, some of the acquisitions have worked out better than others. It takes good timing, talent, and acquisitions and Disney CEO, Iger did it all to grow. Disney fostered the revival of intellectual properties with little concern for their creative value. Remakes, sequels, prequels, re-imaginings, reboots, etc. were a major part of Iger’s legacy, too. This strategy hasn’t promoted originality, per se. But that strategy has allowed Disney to become the most powerful American entertainment company in the world. Iger’s Disney has not always succeeded, sometimes at the expense of the intellectual property that he steered them to acquire.
Disney World: The ride of a lifetime
Whatever mistakes were made at Disney in the 15 years in their films, their theme parks, their shows, their TV networks, etc., the corporation has still become a true powerhouse. Disney now encompasses what used to be 20th Century Fox, Hulu, Disney+, Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, National Geographic, ESPN, ABC, and more. Some of those acquisitions existed before Bob Iger became CEO. But they’ve grown stronger over time, and in many cases, those acquisitions are in a more powerful place now than they were before. No doubt, many of the men and women who work at the company are instrumental for the Disney companies’ overall success, yet there’s only one man on the top.
Whenever, Bob Iger steps down as CEO of Disney, he would surely leave the company in what could be a very challenging bind. It’s the curse and blessing of having created such an impact in just 15 years at the top.
