I’m sure you heard about this brouhaha.

Disney decided that Bob Iger’s choice of successor , Bob Chapek (appointed in 2019), needed immediate removal.  Despite the fact that they had just awarded Chapek a three-year extension of his contract (theoretically leaving him as CEO  until 2024).

We have also known that when a predecessor remains on the corporate board, it is highly likely that the successor CEO will not complete his (and it has been that gender) tenure- to the tune of a 40% likely early termination. And, in 10% of the cases, the predecessor is rehired as CEO. Even though, these boomerang CEO have mixed records, at best.

Now, to be honest, choosing a CEO successor is a most difficult task.  (And, Disney only gave Iger two years to pick the best.) Some execs are afraid if they choose the “really” best candidate, the world will see how much better they should have done.  Others have a hard time prognosticating what the changed environment will demand of their firm in the future, so determining what skills are needed to manage that unknown future is a crapshoot.

And, then, there’s the general observation that Disney has been dismal with leadership transitions.  Mostly because it really is an amalgam of disparate enterprises- theme parks, cruise lines, theatrical/creative releases, sports network (ESPN), network TV (ABC), streaming services, and merchandising.  Top that off with politics (think DeSantis and the Florida gay employee fiasco) plus technology advances, and it becomes obvious that the CEO really needs to be an outgoing polymath and a visionary.

You do recall that Walt and Roy O.  (the Disney brothers) were always at each other (although Walt managed to maintain the upper hand).  Ron Miller (Walt’s son-in-law) was ignominiously dumped as CEO in 1984.  Roy’s son (Roy E.) worked hard to get Michael Eisner removed in 2005 (after a 21 year tenure)- who had designated Bob Iger (but was in NO rush to leave Disney).

But, to be honest, from what I have observed and studied (you do realize we study manifold organizations so we can cull the best concepts to share with our clients to help them grow to be the most successful entities they can be), Chapek had problems- and a lot of them start with Bob Iger.

We’ll continue those discussions Monday,   Have a great weekend.

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