Disney fires Chapek, brings Iger out of retirement

I figured they would give the guy a few more quarters, but I guess not. I'm sure this will make the bloggers happy, but at the same time, I hope they don't expect price cuts and the removal of reservations and paid queue skipping.

I don’t expect price cuts or the death of G+, but I would love it if reservations went away (just charge a whole lot more for hoppers) and if they greatly increased the cost of G+ (like 7-10x) to limit use leading to a better experience for people who pay for it (more passes quickly) and those who don’t (less G+ users means quicker standbys line.)

Jeff:

I hope they don't expect price cuts and the removal of reservations and paid queue skipping.

I read a few comments on some of the WDW sites that are predicting the demise of Genie+ and park reservations by the end of the week, resumed Annual Pass sales within days, and a general theme of the actual coming of Jesus Christ.

That said, I do think this is excellent news.

I'd love for prices to drop but the Genie is out of the bottle at this point.

I don't think investors would be cool with letting all of that new revenue just evaporate. The fandom idiots will turn on Iger soon enough. They didn't like him that much in his last few years, but I guess they have short memories.

Iger fired off an email almost immediately tonight to employees:

You will be hearing more from me and your leaders tomorrow and in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, allow me to express my deep gratitude for all that you do. Disney holds a special place in the hearts of people around the globe thanks to you, and your dedication to this company and its mission to bring joy to people through great storytelling is an inspiration to me every single day.

Dear Elon, that's what actual leadership looks like.

Elon Musk just might be Trump's perfect running mate.

Fortunately, he lacks the qualification of being a natural-born citizen.

Was it a C-section?

From The NY Times...

In recent months, Mr. Iger has made no secret of his extreme disappointment with Mr. Chapek, telling people close to him that he was “devastated” by the downward direction that Disney had taken and that it felt that Disney was losing its soul.

+ 1 point to the theme park bloggers

Mr. Chapek’s demeanor struck many as tone deaf, in particular when he started to implausibly talk about how great the response had been to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, a relatively inconsequential event at Disneyland.

Emphasis mine. - 1 point

I haven’t really followed this soap opera. What did Chapek do that he had to be removed so suddenly?

Does Iger love poor people?

Google the Disney stock price over his tenure, then look at the 4th quarter results for this year and the reaction to his most recent presentation on those results. To put it mildly, it wasn’t good.

Its all Wall Street driven and mainly due to the giant money pit that is D+

Imagine how surprised the bloggers are going to be when they figure out that Disney's business is about a lot more than parks and that Iger was likely at the helm when Genie+ was being developed.

This is great news for the online Disney enthusiast community. Now they can all get back to complaining about what they complained about for the fifteen years before Chapek.

Which I believe was…checks notes…also Bob Chapek.

For the board to meet on a Sunday and deliver this news, I’m feeling like there has to be something more than just stock prices.

Not that I have any clue what that is, currently, but that seems like it could have been handled during M-F if that’s all it is.

Touchdown:

mainly due to the giant money pit that is D+

Yea. Disney+ is an interesting beast. They keep putting stuff on there that could have been big hits at the box office and lingered in the public consciousness longer…..

I think this was mostly PR control after a tough year (Don't Say Gay Bill being at the top of the list) and a bad earnings report that sent the stock price tumbling. I'm not a big fan of this move or the countless decisions we are seeing now in sports and business where a new leader doesn't have enough time to develop their own agenda and culture.

I say that while acknowledging that I'm not a fan of Chapek. To judge his performance, or anyone's performance for that matter, primarily through the Covid years is a little unfair. So, that tells me it all came down to a lack of confidence in his leadership..whether on the part of the Board, the cast members, or the investors at large. If that confidence was unattainable then maybe there was no other choice...but we may have expectations of our leaders that are impossibly high.

The_Orient_of_Express:

What did Chapek do that he had to be removed so suddenly?

Oversaw lower earnings than Wall Street expected, and didn't sounds appropriately sad about it.