Hollywood has been playing games to speculate about Bob Chapek’s future as Disney’s chief executive officer for months, and the blunder claims that failure has sealed his fate with Disney’s board of directors. .. His reign will soon end.
it’s not.
The Walt Disney Company’s board renewed Mr Chapek’s contract for another three years on Tuesday. This means that Chapek was able to command Disney until at least 2025.
Chapek, 63, faces a daunting to-do list. Disney’s stock price needs to be rejuvenated, to say the least. The company’s balance sheet is still recovering from the pandemic. We need to improve employee morale. Disney is struggling in China, Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland are closing and reopening (and closing and reopening) due to concerns about the coronavirus, and Disney movies have been licensed for theater release by Chinese authorities. not.
Disney’s national theme parks are full and visitors are spending more on food, merchandise and hotel rooms than ever before. However, some investors are worried that the looming recession could hurt park attendance and guest spending. Disney needs a theme park to continue to generate cash wheelbarrows to offset losses in the streaming sector. Disney + is growing rapidly, but we can’t expect profitability until 2024.
Nonetheless, renewing Mr. Chapek’s contract is a big blow in his arms.
“Disney was put in a tough situation by the pandemic, but with Bob taking the lead, from parks to streaming, our business not only survived the storm, but also emerged in a strong position,” said the board. Chair Susan Arnold added. “Bob is the right leader at the right time for the Walt Disney Company, and the board is completely confident in him and his leadership team.”
Chapek was groomed by his predecessor, Robert A. Eiger, who resigned from his role in February 2020, a month before Disney was forced to shut down most of its businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic. rice field. Mr. Eger was Disney’s Executive Chairman until he left the company altogether in December.
Since then, Mr. Chapek has exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Importantly, his team was able to keep Disney + growing much faster than expected. The company’s flagship streaming service has added approximately 20 million new subscribers worldwide in the last two fiscal quarters of Disney. This is about 60 percent more than analysts expected.
However, three factors have caused Disney’s share price to fall by nearly 40% since Eiger’s departure.
In March, Disney was caught up in a political storm over a failure to respond to a new education law in Florida, which employs about 80,000 people. Many laws prohibit classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity up to the third grade, limiting what teachers can say in front of older students. A torrent of LGBTQ organizations and businesses criticized the bill, and opponents called it “don’t call it gay.”
Initially, Mr Chapek urged employee rebellion, at least not publicly, but trying not to stand by. Then he forcibly condemned the bill. Right-wing media figures and Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis have begun to oppose “Awakened Disney.” In April, DeSantis revoked Disney World’s designation as a special tax district. This is a privilege that has allowed the company to effectively self-govern 25,000 acres of mega-resorts since 1967.
1 Independent investigation Of the more than 33,000 Americans captured during the blunder, the Disney brand was found to be hurt. On April 29, Chapek fired Disney’s best communications and government executives who joined the company just four months ago.
