Bob Iger’s sudden decision to step down as Disney CEO on February 25th was surprising in its timing, but it mot not be as big of a big deal for Disney as some expect. Iger’s retirement had been talked about and postponed for years, so while the timing of it was sudden, that it happened at all was a surprise to no one inside Disney. They’d been preparing for his succession, having chosen Bob Chapek well before Iger gave up the CEO role.
Iger is still under contract with Disney as executive chairman through the end of 2021, which he’d announced would be when he’d step down as CEO. Despite stepping down much sooner than expected in February 2020, 22 months before his contract ended, he didn’t break the contract, and that detail is key to understanding Disney’s immediate future, his role in it, and why it’s really not a big deal.
While Bob Iger stepped down as Disney CEO in February, he hasn’t actually left the company, staying on as executive chairman through the end of his contract in 2021. New CEO Bob Chapek is still reporting to Iger for right now, so he still has significant power at Disney. Iger has also decided to focus more on creative matters within Disney to try and strengthen up the movies and TV being produced by them both in the short and long term.
Setting up for a smooth, long-term transition to Disney helps to make sure that going from one CEO to another doesn’t cause problems. For almost the next two years, Bob Iger is still going to be guiding what’s going on at Disney, just without getting as caught up in the day-to-day work of a CEO. He’s there as a manager and advisor for new CEO Bob Chapek, rather than leaving immediately and having no more impact on how the company is run. Working on the more creative side of the business also ensures that his influence is felt well into the future, as he will have had an impact on projects that are released even several years into the future.
Even if they hadn’t done all that setup, a lot of things would have continued on unchanged anyway. Look at Marvel Studios. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a roadmap for at least the next 4 years, and that’s just what we know about publicly (Feige says they have movies mapped out through 2028). The Marvel movies are going to continue at the rhythm they’ve been going at under Kevin Feige’s leadership for a while. Even the most extreme Disney CEO would be afraid to touch Marvel Studios for fear of being the one blamed for breaking a big cash cow, and Marvel is just one of them. Disney Animation and Pixar are also moving along smoothly. If anything, the transition may affect Star Wars the most, but Star Wars was already in a state of flux before Chapek took over.
The significance of Iger’s tenure as CEO can’t be overstated as he oversaw the acquisition of Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox, turning Disney into an even bigger entertainment IP powerhouse than it was already. Iger then went and oversaw the launch of Disney+, which is set to utilize all those IPs to produce new content in the coming years.
Iger certainly leaves big shoes to fill, and incoming CEO Bob Chapek certainly has his work cut out for him, but he’s also taking over an entertainment juggernaut with years of success already charted for him. Whether Chapek can extend Disney’s winning streak into the 2030s will be the big question, but Disney’s immediate success is all but assured. With Iger also spending more time on the creative side, Disney should have a stronger development slate going into the future, helping the transition to Chapek be even less of a big deal.
