Hollywood giant Walt Disney surprisingly repositions its top management. Bob Iger retires after more than 15 years, his successor has been with the company for almost three decades.
Burbank (dpa) - The head of the US entertainment giant Disney, Bob Iger, is stepping down with immediate effect. This was announced by the company after the US exchange closed. The successor was Disney manager Bob Chapek, who was last responsible for the group's amusement parks.
After the start of the Disney + streaming service, he believed that now was the ideal time to hand over to a new CEO, Iger explained.
Even if there has been speculation for a long time about who could replace Iger, at least the time of the resignation is a real surprise. Disney's stocks initially reacted afterwards with losses. Iger had held the top position for more than 15 years and shaped the entertainment group very strongly during this time with the takeovers of studios such as Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm as well as large parts of the competitor 21st Century Fox.
Iger will remain with the Group as the executive chairman of the board of directors until the end of the year. Chapek's successor has been with Disney for 27 years, and has been responsible for the thriving business of theme parks and resorts for the past five years. "Bob will be the seventh chief executive in Disney's nearly 100-year history, and he has proven himself exceptionally qualified to lead the company into the next century," said Iger in a statement.
Iger's last major project was the Disney + streaming service, which premiered in the United States on November 12. With the offer, the Hollywood giant opened the hunt for the rival Netflix, which has chased away many customers from the classic TV and film industry in recent years. Disney + got off to a very successful start, with the streaming service gaining almost 29 million customers in less than three months thanks to low prices and popular productions such as the "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian".