Bob Iger’s tallest order at Disney: preparing his own replacement—for the man he fired two decades ago
Michael Bragg, a longtime Disney board member who retired last year, speaks during a “Board of Trustees News” conference on Friday in Burbank, Calif. Bragg was instrumental in the company’s purchase of majority interest in Lucasfilm.
Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP
Michael Bragg, a longtime Disney…
Bragg speaks during a “Board of Trustees News” conference on Friday in Burbank, Calif. Bragg was instrumental in the company’s purchase of majority interest in Lucasfilm. (Charles Dharapak, AP)
Michael Bragg, a longtime Disney board member who retired last year, speaks during a “Board of Trustees News” conference on Friday in Burbank, Calif. Bragg was instrumental in the company’s purchase of majority interest in Lucasfilm.
There is a new boss in town.
Michael Eisner, the former chief executive who ushered in the 21st-century Disney that has made the company the highest-grossing animation studio in the world, is exiting his role after six years.
Eisner will remain with Disney while it searches for his replacement to head the family-owned company. And what better place to find the right person than to find out who succeeded him?
“It’s critical for the company to have an opportunity to get a new leader to start from scratch and go through the transformation that we’ve undergone,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, a former Disney executive who is now head of Paramount Studios. “The company can’t afford to go out of business, and it can’t afford to go into a period of transition where people aren’t moving from place to place and job to job,” he said. “With Michael Eisner’s departure, they’re in the process of doing that.”
Eisner and Iger both told reporters Friday that they are preparing their own replacements, although it is not clear who might carry on Eisner’s legacy.
Iger was tapped to succeed Eisner after the exec failed to turn around the the troubled Disney back in 2004. Iger’
