Bob Iger had planned to retire several times before he finally passed the title of CEO of The Walt Disney Company to Bob Chapek. While the handover took place during a difficult time, the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed like the company knew its path forward, but that, it would seem could not be further from the truth. Chepek spent less than three years in the job as CEO, and it appears that an Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland, and what Chapek called “Eeyore” employees, had a lot to do with why.
A new report from CNBC claims to have spoken to more than two dozen people about the period at Disney surrounding Chapek becoming CEO, while former CEO Bob Iger was Executive Chairman, and during Chapek’s tenure in the role, and subsequent removal and replacement by a returning Iger. Among its claims is that Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow lawsuit was a major point of contention between Iger and Chapek.
We already knew that a November 2022 quarterly earnings call was a major factor in Chapek’s removal, but we now appear to have some very specific details. On that quarterly earnings call, we heard a very positive Bob Chapek, despite the fact that quarterly losses for Disney+ were significant, more than double the same quarter a year earlier, and Disney’s bottom line financials were way off of Wall Street Expectations. There have been reports that Chapek shifted some costs from Disney+ shows over to Disney Channel to try and make the numbers look better. Disney is now facing multiple lawsuits from investors over this issue.
Chapek’s position of positivity wasn’t just a show for Wall Street apparently. He really did believe things were in better shape than others at Disney. Chapek reportedly started calling those with a more negative outlook “Eeyores” in reference to Winnie the Pooh’s perpetually downtrodden donkey friend.
When the Earnings Call did happen, It was Disney’s then-CFO Christine McCarthy who took particular exception to Chapek’s performance. Rather than discussing the numbers in a frank way, Chapek celebrated the way tickets to Disneyland’s Halloween event, Oogie Boogie Bash had sold.
It was following this earnings call that the wheels came off the Chapek bus. Disney’s share price dropped, and activist investor Nelson Peltz began his campaign to get a seat on the Disney board. The Disney board then began to speak to the company’s division heads, who reportedly all stated they did not support Chapek anymore, and the call to Iger went out shortly thereafter.
It was reportedly Disney’s head of TV Dana Walden who first reached out to Iger to see if a return to the CEO role was possible for Iger. On November 12 the two went for a walk and Iger said he was willing to consider it. On November 19, Susan Rice, the Chairman of the Board, called Iger and offered him the job.
Chapek has been largely out of the spotlight since leaving Disney, so it seems this battle is over. But Disney is still trying to find its path forward, dealing with a struggling stock price, and trying to get costs under control. It seems unlikely we've heard the last of the backroom chaos at Disney.
