Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger announced a restructuring of the company during his first earnings call back at the helm of the business he first retired from in 2021.

©DIA DIPASUPIL/GETTY via The Hollywood Reporter | Disney CEO Bob Iger

Iger famously returned on Nov. 20, 2022, to replace fired CEO Bob Chapek. He touted the reorganization as a way to return creativity to the center of the company. “Our company is fueled by storytelling and creativity,” he said. “Virtually every dollar we earn … emanates from something we created.”

Iger told investors that a restructuring at the company — effective immediately —  is “aimed at returning greater authority to our creative leaders.” Disney will be organized under three divisions:

Disney Entertainment

This division will be led by Alan Bergman, who was previously the chairman of Disney Studios, and Dana Walden, who was previously the chairwoman of Disney General Entertainment Content.

ESPN

Jimmy Pitaro will continue to lead ESPN as its own division.

Disney Parks, Experience, and Products

Josh D’Amaro will continue to lead Disney’s division that manages the parks, resorts, cruise lines, and consumer products.

Magic Kingdom

Iger stressed that the reorganization will provide “a more cost effective, coordinated and streamlined approach” to the company’s operations. The new structure will “re-establish a direct link between content decisions and financial performance,” he said.

As far as financial performance goes, today was a good day for the Walt Disney Company. They reported earnings of $2.35 billion — up 8 percent from the first quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share were 99 cents — 7 cents less than last year at this time.

©Disney

In its streaming businesses, which have been of great concern to investors, Disney reported 11.8 million new global streaming subscribers, beating analyst expectations.  Average revenue per user decreased by 19 cents, and the division lost $600 million — largely due to content production, tech and marketing costs.

Disney’s stock price jumped 4.88% in after hours trading, to $117 — a signal that investors were pleased with the Q1 earnings report.

©Google Finance

Iger also announced cost-cutting measures to the tune of $5.5 billion during today’s earnings call. The savings will come from the layoff of 7,000 employees, as well as deep cuts in Disney’s marketing budgets.

And he revealed upcoming projects, including sequels in the Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia franchises, and an Avatar expansion at Disneyland.

Pandora

Iger said the company’s restructuring was effective immediately, and that Disney would begin reporting earnings according to the three new divisions by the end of this fiscal year.

Iger’s next challenge is the board member election coming up at the annual shareholders meeting, to be held on April 3. An activist investor is challenging the way the board governs the Walt Disney Company, and is trying to get shareholders to elect him to the board. Check out these posts for more information:

• Who Is Nelson Peltz and Why Do People Care What He Says About Disney?
• Can Activist Investors Derail Bob Iger’s Board at Disney?
• Investor Wants Disney to FIRE Board Member
• The Big Disney Parks Changes that Activist Investors Are Pushing

Stay tuned to DFB for the latest Walt Disney Company News.