The Walt Disney board extend Bob Iger's position as Chairman and CEO for a third time

Oct 02, 2014 in "The Walt Disney Company"

Posted: Thursday October 2, 2014 2:15pm EDT by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Walt Disney board has extended Bog Iger's stay as Chairman and CEO through June 2018.

This will be the third time that his position at the company has been extended, after previously announcing departure dates from the company.

Iger's last extension with the company was to be until June 30 2016, which was announced back in July 2013. Disney had previously announced in October 2011 that Iger would step down as CEO on March 31 2015, and then serve as Chairman until June 30 2016.

“Bob Iger is the architect of Disney’s current success, with a proven history of delivering record financial results for the company quarter after quarter and year after year,” said Orin C. Smith, Independent Lead Director of the Disney Board. “Mr. Iger’s vision and strategy for the company led to the successful acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, the resurgence of Disney animation, and the dramatic expansion of its parks and resorts around the world, positioning the company for continued long-term growth. Given Mr. Iger’s outstanding record to date, it is obvious that shareholders and the company will be best served by his continued leadership, which is why the Board of Directors has asked him to extend his contract for two years, to June 30, 2018. I am pleased to report that Mr. Iger has accepted.”

“I’ve had the privilege of being the CEO of this great company for nine years and am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue through June 2018,” Iger said. “I’m very excited about what lies ahead, including the release of our Star Wars films and the launch of Shanghai Disneyland, and I’m honored to continue working with our talented management team and the 175,000 dedicated people who make this company what it is today.”

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pumpkin7Oct 06, 2014

Iger needs to stop feeding those special cookies to the employees who make the decisions. Bad Iger.

Cesar R MOct 06, 2014

incorrect. a) I like GOOD change b) I hate they have to remove huge entertainment things so they add crappy and cheap things. c) Disney definitively needs to do something successfully, Radiator Springs at DCA and the new Harambe Theatre are a fine example they can do it and in a timeline manner if THEY WANTED. d) Noone said they hate Frozen, they hate the PLACE they decided to put Frozen in. and some Hate that Frozen is being plastered in absolutely everywhere. Next we will have Olaf in the bottom of toilets and bathrooms singing LET IT GO. ;)

216bruceOct 06, 2014

Thank you. Nailed it perfectly. And, you can change the dining and the FastPass times after they are made. Folks just HATE change. There are only a very few post themes on much of the forum for the most part. Once they are distilled to their essence they are: 1) I hate change 2) I want change 3) Disney needs to make something successful and great like they used to do 4) Frozen is successful and I hate it. Weird.

xstech25Oct 05, 2014

I agree in general ESPN has become more of a tabloid sports network than an x's and o's - the History Channel also (which Disney has ownership in) now has reality shows and crazy Alien stuff. But ratings are way up on both - once again Disney doesn't control supply & demand. It's not Disney's decision whether people want to waste their time watching that crap, there is demand for it, so obviously they're going to cater to it.

AEfxOct 05, 2014

I'm right there hoping with you. Right there. I still lament how Parks and Resorts are treated - no doubt about that. It's terrible. But if we step back and look from our main focus of the company here, there were other parts of the company that were in much more dire straits. Now that is not so much the case, so hopefully the next few years will be a different story. Heck, if they can pull Disneyland out of the state it was in prior to the 50th - as terrible as things are at WDW, we haven't fallen quite that far, yet. It can be saved.

Darth SidiousOct 05, 2014

Good catch I didn't even realize that. Sorry @Cesar R M

doctornickOct 05, 2014

You actually quoted info by @misterID though, not Neo. Unless you are saying that Neo likely had a similar experience.

Cesar R MOct 05, 2014

Now that the action area and animations are back to profitability, Let's hope that his eyes focus on the parks again. Losing the thunder to Universal would hit Iger and their group's ego and reputation

Cesar R MOct 05, 2014

Well, I was talking directly about action movies, not animated. But yes, Pixar was a much required for the revival of Disney when their animation studios need more push.

BigTxEarsOct 05, 2014

Agree, the Marvel movies are among the hottest in Hollywood and some new well made Star Wars movies......$$$$$$ in the bank. I see the parks getting attention and money these days. Overdue? Yes but it is flowing in now. That may very well be because of Uni and their recent upgrades as opposed to anything Iger wants but I don't care as I go to both sets of parks so I win either way as a guest. If the man would have left Disney he would have been snatched up by someone quickly because of his proven track record.

AEfxOct 05, 2014

And as much as the firing squad would have me for saying this (or any of this), from an objective point of view - his time has been focused on the weakest link - Disney Live Action films. As a parks fan, I wish it weren't so - but the parks are profitable, and remain profitable. So they are not his priority - as much as it pains me to admit this. So while I hope the parks get more attention, and I feel they really deserve it - there is a reason that he is a Wall Street darling - because he focused his attention on the weakest parts of the company and has bolstered them quite a bit. He's not the head of Parks and Resorts, he's the head of the Walt Disney Company, and the WDC is in overall much better shape than it was. It's really sad that the parks have taken a backseat while the rest of the company was shored up - I can only hope that with the major acquisitions out of the way, the next few years will be better for our specific interests. But I know that to most folks who post here, they dismiss all that he has done and only focus on the parks - which as parks fans is understandable, but they make him out to be some destroyer of the apocalypse, when in fact - weren't we just discussing a few years back the possibility of certain sections of the company being sold off? You certainly don't hear that stuff now, because overall the WDC is on a tremendous trajectory - though like everyone, I think attention needs to be paid to the parks ASAP as a fan, that doesn't change the fact that overall, Iger has been incredible for the company as a whole.

BigTxEarsOct 05, 2014

Well put. You can not blame the guy for the "bad" and say he "had" to do what turned out good. He gets the credit and the blame as CEO.

Disneyhead'71Oct 05, 2014

When Iger bought PIXAR, they were very close to signing a distribution deal with Universal. Iger getting PIXAR back is one of the best things he has done.

AEfxOct 05, 2014

There is nothing to deny - it's a fact. Though I think when folks talk about it they conveniently leave out the third, Pixar - because they know that doesn't help the case for the whining about "outside" properties, even though technically, it was. These purchases were brilliant on so many levels. They also fit perfectly into the Disney family, contrary to what some folks like to rant about. It's really pedantic that folks dismiss them simply because they did not originate with a Disney employee - like somehow anyone who works for Disney in 2014 has some magical property (no pun intended) that somehow has that if their paycheck says "Disney" on it, what they create is inherently "Disney" - when in this day and age, that's a naive notion at best. These properties and Disney were just really smart moves because Disney is the only company out there that already has the infrastructure to support them like no other could. For just one example, just look at what Disney has done with toy distribution with Marvel and Star Wars - anyone been to a Toys R Us in the past few weeks? The Star Wars section of most stores was down to about 5-6 feet of shelf space, a bit more for Marvel (only because it includes so many properties in and of itself). Now, you will find a full double aisle (up and down both sides, with several large displays in the center) all of Marvel/Star Wars product at the front of every TRU out there in the prime real estate next to the electronics/video games section. That kind of stuff wasn't happening before, but because Disney already has relationships with companies like TRU, they are able to take it to a whole new level. It's popular to dismiss them on certain fan sites, but the truth is - these purchases ensured the long-term profitability of the Disney company. They are no more or less Disney than any other adapted Disney property in reality, it's just that lots of those folks who deny that don't really live in reality. ;)