Bob Iger’s contract as Disney CEO has been extended through 2026

Bob Iger’s contract as Disney CEO has been extended by another two years through 2026, the Walt Disney Company announced Wednesday. The council’s decision was unanimous.

Though Iger has repeatedly said his return would only be for a two-year period since he returned to Disney in November, leading to more questions about a successor, he’ll have another two years to realize and sort out the issues. for which he was brought back to fix in the first place.

“Time and time again, Bob has demonstrated an unprecedented ability to successfully transform Disney to drive future growth and financial returns, earning a reputation as one of the best CEOs in the world,” said Mark G. Parker, president of The Walt Disney Company. a declaration. “Bob has once again put Disney on the right strategic path for continued value creation, and to ensure the successful completion of this transformation, while also allowing ample time to position a new CEO for long-term success, the Board has determined that it is in the best interests of shareholders to extend his term and accepted our request to remain chief executive officer through the end of 2026.”

Iger’s contract extension keeps him on board as CEO for that time, not as a consultant or president or any other capacity. And as of right now, no successor to Iger has been selected, although Disney’s board has a committee to find the next person for the job.

“Because I want to make sure Disney is well positioned when my successor takes the helm, I have accepted the board’s request to remain chief executive officer for another two years,” Iger added in a statement. “The importance of the succession process cannot be overstated and as the Board continues to evaluate a highly qualified slate of internal and external candidates, I remain keenly focused on a successful transition.”

Iger’s shocking return as CEO in November 2022 and Bob Chapek’s ouster came after the company suffered a $1.5 billion loss in its direct-to-consumer (streaming) division for its fiscal fourth quarter. Since returning, Iger has aggressively cut costs, including laying off 7,000 Disney employees and restructuring the company from the format established under Chapek, including dismantling the DMED division, or Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, the technical team and company product.

Iger also installed Dana Walden (considered by industry analysts and types as an internal candidate for the next CEO) and Alan Bergman as new heads of Disney General Entertainment and separated their business from Disney theme parks and ESPN. He also announced plans to integrate Hulu as a tile into Disney+, and he’s also overseen as Disney+ removed dozens of titles from its service in another cost-saving move.

He also supported additional lobbying by Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida over the conflict around the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation dating back to March 2022, when Chapek was still in charge. And Disney has had to deal with underperformance at the box office for titles like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Elemental,” and most recently, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” .

Iger originally served as CEO between 2005 and 2020 and was responsible for acquisitions at Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox. Next he’ll be tasked with determining whether he’ll buy Comcast’s stake in Hulu, which seems very likely at this point.