Disney To Name Iger New CEO

[yoda_four]

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[Starion]

I hope Robert Iger will restore the magic to Disney on 30 September. So long Mr. Eisner.

[singerguy04]

i guess we can't judge him b4 he starts his reign over disney. Who knows, maybe he'll suprise us! *crosses fingers and kneels to pray*

[stitcharielbeast]

considering he turned ABC into the laughing stock of the Television network industry a couple of years ago, We're gonna face a whole new dark age. So much for Walt's dreams...

[AwallaceUNC]

Well he's had a good deal of control within Disney for quite some time, and on that record, we can certainly judge him.

Starion- I'm as wishful as you, but Iger is Eisner's right hand man and they share a lot of the same corporate 'philosophy' and history of bad decisions, especially in recent years.

-Aaron

[Jake Lipson]

Well, it has happened. However, this says that Eisner is outta there on September 30, 2005 -- this year, and a full 365 days before he wanted to leave. So, there's a kind of mixed blessing there.

The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors announced today that Robert A. Iger has been unanimously elected Chief Executive Officer effective September 30, 2005. He will succeed Michael D. Eisner, current CEO, who announced his intention to retire in a letter to the Board last year dated September 9, and will step down as CEO on September 30, 2005.

"After a lengthy, thorough and professional selection process, comparing both internal and external candidates against our criteria for CEO, I am pleased to announce the decision of the Walt Disney Board of Directors to select Robert Iger as the company's next chief executive officer," said Sen. George J. Mitchell, chairman of The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors. "Bob is an experienced, talented and visionary leader who has made crucial and substantial contributions toward Disney's strong performance. On behalf of the entire Board, I want to express how excited we are at the prospect of Bob leading this extraordinary company and talented management team to new levels of financial and creative success in the years ahead."

"It is truly an honor to be entrusted with the responsibility of guiding this great company that occupies such an important place in the hearts and minds of millions the world over toward a very bright future," said Iger. "It's also an honor to work with our incredibly talented and dedicated worldwide team. I feel all the more privileged to succeed Michael, whose tremendous 20-year leadership and enormous accomplishments have built this company into the world's preeminent leader in family entertainment."

"It is with a considerable amount of satisfaction and even pride that I approach the end of my term as CEO of this company," said Michael D. Eisner, former chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. "By every financial and creative measure, Disney is performing at its peak. I have enjoyed virtually every moment of my tenure and want to express my appreciation to the phenomenal colleagues with whom I have been privileged to work. I believe Disney is now poised for its brightest days in the years ahead under the able and insightful leadership of Bob, who has not only the qualities to succeed, but also has a keen sense of the Disney brand and how to maintain its leadership position and grow it on a worldwide scale."

The election of Mr. Iger culminates a lengthy and detailed CEO selection process that started formally when the Disney Board announced on September 21, 2004 that it would, "engage in a thorough, careful, and reasoned process to select as the next CEO the best person for the company, its shareholders, employees, customers, and for the many millions of others who care so much about The Walt Disney Company. The Board is keenly aware of the special place our company holds in the hearts of people all over the world and the importance of its responsibility in choosing a CEO." The Board also made known that day its intention to "complete the process and announce a successor as soon as possible, with an expected date of completion of June 2005."

Directors selected the executive search firm of Heidrick & Struggles in October 2004 in order to assist with the CEO selection process.

"The search and the process for considering potential candidates was thorough and exhaustive and met the most rigorous standards," said Gerard Roche, senior chairman, Heidrick & Struggles.

Robert A. Iger was named president and chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Company in January, 2000. At that time, he also became a member of Disney's board of directors and of its executive management committee.

Iger had been chairman of the Disney-owned ABC Group, where he guided the complex merger of ABC with The Walt Disney Company. Simultaneously, he was president of Walt Disney International, where he created an organization embracing Europe, the Asia-Pacific Region and Latin America. His mission for Walt Disney International was to establish Disney's brand on a worldwide basis and consolidate international operations under a coordinated leadership.

As Disney's president and chief operating officer, Iger works with Michael D. Eisner, chief executive officer, in overseeing all aspects of The Walt Disney Company's operations on a worldwide basis. The heads of all of Disney's business units and its chief strategic officer report to both Eisner and Iger. Iger first became part of Disney's management team in 1996, when The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC, where Iger had been president and chief operating officer.

During Iger's years with ABC, he obtained hands-on experience in virtually every aspect of the television network business, including news, sports and entertainment, as well as the business side of television such as program acquisition, rights negotiations and business affairs.

ABC saw tremendous growth during Iger's career there, becoming a market leader in network television and expanding into numerous cable and related ventures, including A&E, The History Channel, Lifetime, ESPN and ESPN-related businesses.

He began his career at ABC in 1974 as a studio supervisor in New York, then moved to ABC Sports, where he advanced over a 12-year period through a series of increasingly responsible management posts. He became vice president of programming, responsible for all scheduling and program acquisitions for ABC Sports in 1987.

He left ABC Sports in 1988 for a promotion to executive vice president of the ABC Television Network and became president of ABC Entertainment in Los Angeles a year later. Iger was promoted to president to the ABC Television Network Group in New York in 1993 and added the title of president and chief operating officer of ABC in 1994.

He is a member of the board of directors of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. and New York City Outward Bound. He is a trustee of the Museum of Television and Radio and of Ithaca College, where he graduated magna cum laude.

A native of New York, Iger was born February 10, 1951. He has two daughters, Kate and Amanda, and two sons, Max and William.

He is married to Willow Bay.

[psifreek27]

Iger is in, Eisner is out...now lets see if the years of being under eisner's wing will make him just like the evil evil CEO. I hope Iger's first mission is to try and fix issue with pixar...disney would be retarded to let pixar slip away especially after all the money pixar films generate for them.

[I Am Clark Kent]

After today's announcement of Iger as the new CEO, we have to consider the possiblities.

1. Iger must eventually rebuild the animation divison. That means bring back the 2D animation department. Liberals and Conservatives agree that the animation department is what built this company from a garage into a worldwide phenomenon. He doesn't have to do it right away, probably not until 2010, but it eventually must return.

2. If he fails to bring the 2D animation department back, and instead focuses on alienating the Disney audiance further with sequels, remakes etc. Disney will eventually lose its stock number on Wall Street. If the company's stock falls, it will leave the company open to a hostile takeover.

3. If Disney fails to rejuvante the animation department with new concepts and stories, (especially with Mickey Mouse) It will be bought out by another company, such as Comcast. The Disney company will thus cease to funtion as an independent entity.

Thats what's going to happen in my eyes within the next ten years. Within that time every Disney film will have had its DVD release and the
Vault will run DRY

So get ready cause a new era is about to begin, either to fix the company or its slow ride into the sun set.

[Ciaobelli]

These are very sad times for Disney fans
Just the thought that the company could simply cease to exist

Poor Walt.

[Little Red Henski]

Come on guys give Ygor a chance. I'm sure Ygor will be a great ceo. He learned from the best CEO in the business after all.

[AwallaceUNC]

Just the thought that the company could simply cease to exist

Poor Walt.

I don't think Disney is risking extinction any time in the future... or ever. I'm with you on your second sentence, though.

-Aaron

[DDMAN26]

Have any of you guys read Disney War? While Iger is to blame for a lot of things that went wrong with ABC he basically had to be a yes man to Eisner to save his skin with the company. He was pretty much in a no-win situation a lot of the time there.

[2099net]

I refer you all to this post of mine, made on a different thread:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... 864#115864

[orestes.]

I refer you all to this post of mine, made on a different thread:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... 864#115864

Yeah I read that. I'd rather live in the fantasy world since the company back then had more originality and better direction.

[2099net]

I refer you all to this post of mine, made on a different thread:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... 864#115864

Yeah I read that. I'd rather live in the fantasy world since the company back then had more originality and better direction.

My point is. You can't change the system. Disney is part of the system now. It's owned and is responsible to hundreds of thousands of shareholders, perhaps millions. It's just as much a comodity as ICI, AT&T or even Oil and Gold. I say this, but I'm not for the system.

I know this is a Disney forum, so people are slighted towards Disney, but really, when you consider the abuse other large corporations are content to inflict upon the world in the name of profit; evironmental destruction, outsourcing and redundencies, child sweatshop labour, abuse of immigrant workers in the US, outright lies in the news etc, a few Disney sequels pale into insignificance. In fact, are we 100% sure Disney isn't buying in products made under child labour now? Are we 100% sure Disney isn't using suppliers that are harming the environment?

I seem to remember constuction at Disneyland Hong Kong killing most of the marine life in the harbour, but nobody complains about that - not even Roy Disney and his SaveDisney nonsense. (What exactly is he saving it for? Us or for himself?) I suppose he'd just be happy to have a theme park that isn't California Adventure

Especially as (something I have pointed out many times before)

1) People are happy to buy the sequels, as Mulan's sales clearly show.

2) Disney has more original animated films in production now than anytime in the past. So the sequels are not harming creativity at all.

If you want to fight the system, I'm all for it. God knows, a lot of it needs fighting. But choose which fight you want to take-up. And in order to fight, you need to educate yourselves first.

[PatrickvD]

I believe that within this "system" they can function with a little bit more style and creativity, for wich they were once well known. There's nothing wrong with franchises and certain lines. Exploiting certain aspects to ensure a solid income is essential, but not at the cost of creativity. Letting the bottom line take over entirely is wrong. Just my two cents

[2099net]

Letting the bottom line take over entirely is wrong. Just my two cents

But, like I say in my other post: that's what Eisner (or whoever) has to do by law. If they don't support the bottom line they are breaking the law. I know you don't like that. I don't like it. But it is a fact.

I don't see how Roy's proposal of cutting back on sequels and theatrical releases would work when it's all based on a (more and more in my opinion, unlikely) theory. Such an action, depriving the shareholders of vast income for a significant numeber of years, would, under my understanding, be leaving the creator open for legal action against them.

Eisner's not perfect. I don't support the man, and I don't hate the man. But on the whole his is doing what is expected of him. Other people may be slightly different in there actions and deeds, but I doubt anybody would be a distinct change.

It's not as if Disney under Eisner is any different from Warners or Universal or whoever. They all get upto the same tricks - infact, Disney seems to have more respect than either of the other two companies for their "properties".

[AwallaceUNC]

Netty makes a few undeniable points. A lot of people do seem to want a Disney that isn't concerned with profit and only with legacy. Obviously, that isn't realistic or even reasonable. Disney and its CEO is going to look for the bottom line and as Netty points out are required to protect the long-term interests of its shareholders first and foremost.

That's all perfectly understandable to me. The discrepency comes in with what a corporation and/or its CEO determines to be its long-term interest. The biggest gripe with Eisner isn't that his motives are wrong (though many of them no doubt are), but that he makes poor assessments and interpretations and that his decisions are often not in keeping with what would be the best strategy in terms of a balance between short-term and long-term success. Another problem that's not so much related to his profit motives are his inability to negotiate, compromise, or even be friendly, not to mention his tendency to run at the mouth more than your average CEO. All these definitely hurt the company.

Ideally, the desires of shareholders and consumers should largely overlap (though obviously not in every area). That balance can be achieved, which is why a CEO is important.

Business is strategy but just like politics or economics (which are both incidentally a big part of business) it is a philosophy and some CEOs are better fit for their role than others.

At any rate, it's been determined that neither the shareholders nor the public are pleased with Eisner's performance in recent years and have no confidence in his abilities, so a change in leadership isn't at all unreasonable. It happens.

-Aaron

[DreamerQ18]

Well sicne I can honestey say i have no idea who this guy really is I am going to say YAY!! to Eisner leaving for now and 'll just wait to see what happens after Iger takes over,and if I have to Boo! then I'll do it once the first mountain is crossed and thats Eisner leaving .

[AwallaceUNC]

Roy Disney & Stanley Gold have released a statement, and a good one at that:

Sunday March 13, 4:19 pm ET

BURBANK, Calif., March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Roy E. Disney and Stanley P. Gold today issued the following statement on the Disney Board's decision to name Robert Iger the Company's Chief Executive Officer:

"While it has taken three years to reach this point, our efforts to remove Michael Eisner as CEO of the Walt Disney Company have finally succeeded. Even the Disney Board, which has proven unresponsive to its shareholders, recognized that it had to take this action after our campaign which resulted in a resounding 45% No Confidence Vote on Michael Eisner last year.

"Unfortunately, our concerns regarding this Board's process to replace Mr. Eisner were well-founded. We find it incomprehensible that the Board of Directors of Disney failed to find a single external candidate interested in the job and thus handed Bob Iger the job by default. We find it very telling that Mr. Mitchell refused to answer repeated questions about whether the entire Board had interviewed more than one external candidate. The Board has failed in what is clearly one of their most important responsibilities, the selection of the Company's CEO.

"The need for the Walt Disney Company to have a clean break from the prior regime and to change the leadership culture has been glaringly obvious to everyone except this Board. The scathing portrait painted by James Stewart in DisneyWar has been widely reported without serious challenge or contradiction. A Board that is so deaf and insular cannot be entrusted to provide independent stewardship to this valuable, unique institution.

"The selection of Bob Iger is yet another example of this Board's breach of faith. The pledge made by Chairman Mitchell to conduct a bona fide search was a ruse to avoid a contest at the 2005 annual meeting. Mr. Mitchell's approach to good governance is no better than a carny at the fair, enticing words but in the end the game is rigged. Disney Shareholders have been conned and their trust in this Board abused.

"Shareholders should seriously consider replacing this Board and starting anew."

Source: http://www.savedisney.com/news/press_re ... uid=763072

And in an email, they wrote:

Wicked Witch Melted, Winged Monkey Takes Mantle

Disney’s Board of Directors announced Sunday that they have rubber-stamped Eisner’s pick for CEO, Bob Iger, after a lazy winter "search" for outside candidates. The good news is that Eisner will leave office a year early, in fall of 2005, and will not seek to remain on Disney’s Board or to become Chairman.

SaveDisney supporters should be proud of their role in Eisner’s downfall – The pressure you have exerted on the Board has surely helped to make this possible.

A few interesting links have been posted on the SaveDisney.com homepage as well.

-Aaron