In a remarkable turn of events, former Disney CEO Bob Iger, was announced yesterday as the new CEO of Disney, returning to replace Bob Chapek, the man who took over from him in the role just 2 years ago.
Iger is widely regarded as having successfully positioned Disney as the number one powerhouse Hollywood studio during his 15 year tenure from 2005 - 2020, an era in which he oversaw the acquisition of rival studio 20th Century Fox, the purchases of Star Wars rights holder "Lucasfilm" and Marvel Studios and the development of streaming service Disney+.
Chapek had been under pressure for some time, with intense scrutiny on his leadership coming only a few weeks ago following a fall in Disney's share price to a two-year low as a result of the studio reporting a huge $1.47 billion operating loss for its Disney+ streaming segment for the quarter ended 1st October 2022.
Financial woes were not the only issue to cast a shadow over Chapek's reign - at the height of the pandemic the former Disney boss sanctioned a brief but damaging piece of litigation with A-list actress Scarlett Johansson over the studio's decision to first release her film "Black Widow" on the Disney+ streaming service, rather than in cinemas as the Johansson had expected.
/Passle/5f3d6e345354880e28b1fb63/MediaLibrary/Images/2024-12-20-14-40-34-661-676581e2e237a0871914c367.png)
/Passle/5f3d6e345354880e28b1fb63/MediaLibrary/Images/2024-08-23-11-31-07-354-66c872fb971eecc249d83d40.png)
/Passle/5f3d6e345354880e28b1fb63/SearchServiceImages/2024-12-20-10-14-57-827-676543a18b3a544801097a93.jpg)