Disney may have brought back Bob Iger to replace Bob Chapek as their CEO, but according to the New York Times, he was not their first choice. Disney considered Thomas O. Staggs and Kevin Mayer as their next CEO.
- Mayer, a former senior executive for Disney, and Thomas O. Staggs, a former COO for Disney, were reportedly considered to be the next CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
- The two had been considered to be successors to Iger before they left the company to run their star-up, Candle Media.
- The New York Times reports a person close to Disney’s board had reached out to them this year with a hypothetical question: Would one or both be interested in returning to run Disney?
- Stags and Mayer said any deal would have required Disney acquisition of Candle Media and needed Chapek’s approval, which would have been unlikely.
- Their affective refusal resulted in Disney turning back to Iger.
More on Bob Iger:
- Iger, who spent more than four decades at Disney in different capacities — including 15 years as its CEO — has agreed to serve as Disney’s CEO for two years.
- This comes with a mandate from the Board of Directors to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the Board in developing a successor to lead the company at the completion of his term (again).
- Iger will of course replace outgoing CEO Bob Chapek, who has stepped down from his position.
- The news comes after a disappointing quarterly earnings report led prominent commentators to call for Chapek’s firing. Chapek then called for a “targeted hiring freeze” among other actions.
- Some more details about Iger’s return were shared earlier today, including reasoning for replacing Chapek and Iger’s new compensation package.
- Iger was also reportedly negotiating a big new role at Gerry Cardinale’s investment firm RedBird Capital Partners.