The CEO of Disney, Bob Iger who has steered Disney’s absorption of Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and Fox’s entertainment business is stepping down, as per a company announcement.
However, Iger would continue as the executive chairman through the end of his contract that expires on December 31, 2021. As per Iger, he would spend more time on Disney’s creative endeavors, like the ESPN sports network, the recently acquired Fox studios and the Hulu and Disney Plus streaming services.
His most recent achievement was orchestrating a 71 billion dollar purchase of Fox’s entertainment business in March. This was when the Disney Plus streaming service was being launched in November. Through this service, it had gotten nearly 29 million paid subscribers in less than three months.
However, Disney has been facing challenges to its traditional media business as cord-cutting has picked up. This means charging less fees from cables and satellite companies, in order to carry Disney networks like ABC, ESPN, and Freeform. Also, Disney’s own streaming sercives require it to forgo money in licensing revenue. This is even though Disney is betting that money from subscriptions, which would be eventually making up for that.
Iger was being appointed the CEO in 2005, but there were a lot of controversies and protests from shareholders Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold. Also, since Iger has resumed office, Disney’s stock price has risen fivefold. However, its stock fell more than 2 percent in extending trading following the announcement.
As per The Associated Press (AP), and Equilar, Iger was the second-highest-paid CEO in 2018. He had earned 65.6 million dollars.