Bob Chapek has officially stepped down from the CEO chair, making way for Bob Iger to return to a role he held for the past fifteen years until 2020 when Chapek took over. This news was a sudden blast for Disney fans, as the news became an overnight turn of events, changing what the future of the company might hold.
Bob Chapek’s exit was a game-changer throughout what Disney was going through, with the series of losses and backlash the company faced. Ever since he took over as CEO, fans haven’t been eager to see what he has to offer the public, as his ideas haven’t been as well received as you’d hope.
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Multiple losses led Bob Chapek to be fired as Disney CEO
The decision to keep Bob Chapek in his post had divided Disney’s board of directors “over the past few months”. But the ultimate choice to oust Chapek would have been made barely a week ago. Due to the sudden nature of the change, the investigation revealed that “even at the highest levels” very few people were aware that Iger had replaced Chapek.
His poor performance on the company’s last quarterly earnings call earlier in November 2022 was the root cause for Disney to fire Chapek. During the call, Chapek mentioned the need for cost-cutting measures, but only provided a glimpse of what those plans would be later in the week. The former CEO floated ideas like a hiring and layoff freeze.
Chapek even resulted in a $1.5 billion loss due to Disneyland’s Oogie Boogie Bash. This decision to replace the CEO with Bob Iger was such a spontaneous move that even the most senior designated employees were unaware of this job swap.
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Bob Chapek’s reign as CEO ended as soon as it started
Bob Chapek became the CEO of Disney Fractions before COVID unexpectedly hit the world, creating what was to be an extremely difficult road for him. Scarlett Johansson sued Disney soon after, exposing facts the company has wanted to hide for a long time.
It could also be factored in with the loss that the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4 brought, disappointing according to fans and not being as profitable financially as Disney might have expected at first.
What seemed to be the case was that even before fans learned that Chapek was in this mess, he was about to say goodbye to his position for multiple other reasons. However, what can be said is that Bob Iger would be Disney’s saving grace, waiting to bring him back to his glory.
Read also : ‘You’re dead if you only target kids’: Fans slam Disney CEO Bob Chapek for telling adults not to ‘tune in to animated movies’
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
