Returning Disney CEO Bob Iger Outlines His Objectives

After shocking the media industry with his return as CEO of Disney the previous week, Bob Iger visited the company’s headquarters on Monday to speak with employees for the very first time since making the announcement.

Iger addressed a variety of concerns that have been raised about the corporation, including the current hiring moratorium at Disney and the areas of concentration for the Disney+ streaming service that he has in mind. In addition to this, he emphasized that the most important thing for him to focus on as he regains control is creativity.

During a town hall meeting held at the company’s headquarters in Burbank, California, Iger informed staff that Disney’s hiring freeze would continue to be in effect – at least for the time being. His predecessor, Bob Chapek, made the announcement of the hiring freeze at the beginning of this month. Iger took over as CEO of Disney after Chapek, whose time in that role was brief but fraught with conflict. Iger has stated that maintaining the freeze is the “sensible thing to do” in light of the issues that are now facing the corporation. When addressing Disney’s overall “cost structure,” he also said that the length of time the employment freeze will be in effect will be a consideration for him.

The announcement of Iger’s return comes at a time when Disney is facing a great deal of hardship and criticism across its entire media empire. Disney is currently facing challenges in both the film and television industries. This includes a share price that has remained flat during the entire year as well as a streaming business that is expanding but is still losing money. Iger stated that when he departed the firm a year ago, Disney’s performance in streaming was being judged by a variety of criteria; nonetheless, growth was the primary element being considered. Since then, the emphasis has switched to “the bottom line” and “how much we are losing and when we will be profitable,” according to Iger’s statement.

He stated that the corporation should begin “chasing profitability” rather than “chasing subs with aggressive marketing and aggressive spend on content.” He stated that in order for Disney to accomplish this goal, the company must do a “very, very serious look” at the cost structure of all of its companies. However, Iger emphasized that “creativity” should be the primary focus of the corporation, as the returning CEO already stated that this endeavor will be his top priority.

Iger was asked about Disney’s creative muscle, and he responded by saying, “A number of you who worked with me know I’m obsessed with that.” “However, there is a logic behind my fixation on that. It is the engine that keeps the business going.

Iger stated that the quantity of content that Disney develops is not as important as the “greatness of the things that we do make.”

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Iger wasted no time in making his stamp on the corporation and did so immediately. Soon after it was announced that he would be taking over as CEO, he reorganized Disney’s content distribution structure and announced that Kareem Daniel, chairman of the company’s Media and Entertainment Distribution unit, would be leaving Disney. Kareem Daniel had been the person responsible for overseeing the distribution of Disney’s content.

Iger tweeted a picture of Disney’s offices early on Monday morning, which was his first day back on the Walt Disney Studio lot. He captioned the image with the phrase “full with gratitude and delight to be back.”