Bob Iger is like the home mouse who retains coming again for extra. The Disney CEO has been shaking up the Magic Kingdom since 2005.
Iger left the CEO position after 15 years on the job in 2020 solely to renew the place on the $158 billion firm in November 2022. Iger got here again to the mouse home after the corporate suffered main losses from its Disney+ streaming service beneath his successor Bob Chapek, per Reuters. He made a number of fast modifications, together with mountaineering costs at parks, planning to merge Disney+ and Hulu beneath one app and shedding greater than 7,000 staff throughout ESPN, Disney parks and different departments.
And he isn’t executed but. Though Iger initially agreed to return out of retirement for less than two extra years, Disney has since prolonged his contract by 2026, per Reuters.
“There’s extra to perform earlier than this transformative work is full,” Iger stated in a assertion.
Iger has most not too long ago made headlines for his feedback on the continuing Author’s Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, that are being led by members of the leisure trade petitioning for fairer wages. In an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Field, Iger stated the unions’ calls for are “not practical.”
Preserve scrolling for extra particulars about Iger’s Disney profession and wage.
How did Bob Iger get to the place he’s right now?
Bob Iger’s profession within the enterprise of leisure started after graduating from Ithaca School in 1974 with a level in tv and radio manufacturing. Shortly after commencement, Iger started working at ABC as a “glorified errand boy,” The New York Instances wrote.
On the time, he was solely making $150 per week, he informed Time for the 2023 TIME100 cowl shoot. “I needed to spend each single cent that I made with a view to dwell,” he stated in the course of the interview.
He then labored his means up within the sports activities division, the place he primarily negotiated rights and scheduled packages, together with making the every day schedule of occasions for the 1988 Olympics, per NYT archives. He was promoted to govt vp of the ABC Tv Community Group, however after a yr on the job, ABC made him president of leisure in 1989.
In 1993 he turned president of ABC Tv Community Group, the place he oversaw the published community and the radio and publishing enterprise, based on CNBC. He helped oversee the merger between ABC and Disney when Disney purchased the corporate in 1995. After that, he turned chairman of the now-Disney-owned ABC Group and was later named president of Walt Disney Worldwide in 1999.
He was made COO of Disney in 2000 and stayed within the position for 5 years earlier than he took on the position of CEO, which he held from 2005 to 2020.
Throughout his first stint as CEO, Disney acquired Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion in 2006 and later bought Marvel for round $4 billion in 2009.
He was additionally behind Disney’s $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm and the $71 billion deal to purchase twentieth Century Fox in 2019.
Iger was instrumental in launching the Disney+ streaming service.
Why did Bob Iger depart Disney, and why did he come again?
After 15 years on the helm, Iger introduced his retirement in 2020 and handed the reins to Bob Chapek.
“With the profitable launch of Disney’s direct-to-consumer companies and the mixing of Twenty-First Century Fox nicely underway, I imagine that is the optimum time to transition to a brand new CEO,” he stated on the time, per CNBC.
Though Iger stepped again from his position as CEO, he remained govt chairman and chairman of the board till December 2021, when he formally retired.
However Chapek’s time at Disney ended extra rapidly than anticipated. Throughout his brief stint as CEO, Disney struggled to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic and located itself in a political battle with Florida governor Ron DeSantis over the state’s “do not say homosexual” invoice.
Associated: Embattled Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s Exit Package deal Is Value Extra Than $20 Million
Disney’s inventory fell following disappointing This fall earnings, prompting Iger’s return as CEO in November 2022.
“I’m extraordinarily optimistic for the way forward for this nice firm and thrilled to be requested by the board to return as its CEO,” Iger stated in a assertion on the time.
What’s Bob Iger’s Disney wage, and what’s his web price?
Bob Iger has come a good distance since his days making $150 per week.
In his earlier contract, Iger was entitled to as much as $27 million per yr in complete compensation, based on Reuters. Extending his contract till 2026 entitles him to an incentive bonus of as much as 5 instances his base wage.
In 2019, Forbes estimated his web price to be round $690 million, which was greater than it estimated Disney heirs Abigail Disney and Roy E. Disney needed to their names on the time. Now, different web sites estimate his fortune to be round $350 million.