Ep 3: A Tale Of Two Bobs

Is everything Game Of Thrones now?

Bob Iger has returned to the mouse house. It’s a gigantic shock for the entire entertainment industry. I can’t think of a more bizarre plot twist in the leadership of a Fortune 500 company since… Michael Eisner’s defenestration of Michael Ovitz from the Mouse House in 1995. 

It’s hard to overestimate how bizarre this is, and yet also how many breadcrumbs Iger had laid towards this ridiculous move. Let’s lay out the facts. 

Bob Chapek was Iger’s handpicked guy. A younger executive coming from consumer products who was a master at driving hard bargains. His aesthetic was more blue collar than Iger, he had none of the charisma or lust for the limelight, he didn’t glad hand with stars the way Iger did, and he made several moves that on paper make a ton of sense. The pumping of Disney+’s content output, the reopening of global parks earlier in the pandemic than others would’ve thought possible, the installation of Kareem Daniel as a kind of master creative overseeing all silos. These are the kinds of things MBA guys would tell you are no brainers! 

Rumors of tension between Iger and Chapek has been around town since Chapek took the big chair. Between the weird seating plan at Iger’s farewell dinner (Chapek sat at a different table), to the very prominent media appearances with not so subtle digs (recommend reading Iger’s memoir and the absence of any kind of succession discussion). It’s always reeked as a god-like elder statesman who can’t take his hand off the wheel, and today those instincts have played out. You wouldn’t expect Disney of all places to echo the last season of Succession, but here we are. 

While Iger released his book and took on an advisory role at Josh Kushner’s hedge fun, he never averted his gaze from the Burbank lot. He left at the peak of his powers, completely dialed into the Hollywood ecosystem and with a pristine reputation among power players. I imagine he’ll slide back into the saddle easily, but Disney’s issues haven’t evaporated with Chapek. This is a company with dwindling profits and a commitment to streaming profitability within 18 months.

By taking power back from the next generation (that he personally selected), Iger has effectively said to the company that he will die in charge. A worrying message to send. The only reason that this could make sense is if Chapek was a diabolically bad CEO, which there just isn’t any evidence of. However, he certainly wasn’t any kind of success either. His handling of Scarlett Johansson’s pay disparity complaint, and the Florida government “don’t say gay” showdown proved that Chapek had absolutely no sense of the media landscape. Being at the helm of the number one media company on earth, you’d hope that weren’t the case! He had no creative instincts, and didn’t have near the appetite for it that Iger does/did. Iger was famous for reading scripts of all major releases, practically unheard of.

Ultimately this seems like a mismatch of character (Chapek) to task, a P/L obsessed streamliner to the world’s dream factory. However, such a mismatch surely doesn’t warrant the disrespectful 86’ing that just happened. Yes, if you sense you need a change of leadership, you should make that call, but to replace him with his elderly predecessor over the weekend, 3 months since you renewed his contract seems like a wartime move. Is Iger going to undo Chapek’s Disney+ infrastructure? What of Kareem Daniel? Hollywood will shed no tears for Bob Chapek but much like Eisner in the 90s, Iger has now signaled that Disney is his kingdom and no one else’s. 

I’m sure Bryan Lourd is laughing now, he might not be in 5 years when the next succession merry-go-round takes place and finds that no one wants a chair that could be pulled out from under them. Iger’s 71, succession plans will become a priority discussion after the renewal glow wears off, within 6 months.

This is the most important job in entertainment and Bob Iger was the best at it. It seems the only part of the job he failed at was preparing his successor. Now he inherits a company with 3 years of Chapek leadership and severed talent relationships amid a deeply hostile landscape. 3 years ago he was tipped as a dark horse presidential candidate, few would’ve picked this for his final act.