One Important Thing Was MISSING From Disney's Big News Drop…and It Might Surprise You!

Disney CEO Bob Iger is on his second go-around of the position at the company.

©Disney

Iger was CEO of the Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020. In 2020, Iger was replaced by Bob Chapek, however, the Board of Directors removed Chapek in November of 2022 and reinstated Iger as CEO. Since his return, conversations regarding his next successor have been paramount. His contract has already been extended once since his return, but now finding the next CEO of Disney is a top priority for him and the Board of Directors. Iger can’t last forever at Disney, and that’s why we found the 2024 Q3 earnings call to be an interesting one.

The Walt Disney Company held its 2024 Q2 earnings call on August 7th. Typically, at these calls, we hear from CEO Bob Iger as he discusses the current financial standings of each of the different divisions within the company. He then goes on to answer specific questions about new projects, the financial results, and future expectations.

©Disney

What happened during this most recent earnings call intrigued us. We usually expect to hear from other Disney executives on the call, but most of the time Iger is the one talking and answering questions.

©Disney

During the Q3 earnings call, Iger read the commentary for the financial results and then CFO Hugh Johnston took over for the remainder of the call. We heard from Johnston nearly 80% of the call and only about 20% of the time Iger talked. We wonder if the reason for this change is because Iger is starting to pull back from the public eye to give some breathing room before a successor is announced. This would also get the public and shareholders used to hearing from other executives not just him.

©Disney

Iger is also the person who usually does the pre-interview with CNBC before the earnings call, but that is not what happened this go around.

Not only did Johnston have more air time during the earnings call, but he was also the person who did the CNBC interview instead of Iger this time. Perhaps this leans into the theory that Iger is stepping back. Iger may also be moving out of the spotlight now that things are looking up in terms of revenue. While everything in the company wasn’t going well when he took back over in 2022, he needed to represent to gain support and trust. But now he has turned things around and has revenue full in hand, so he can sit back and let other executives be the face of Disney.

CNBC

Iger and the company hope to find a successor by the end the end of his contract in 2026 which is just over a year away. It may be that he is looking to share the spotlight with more executives now while the search is on for the next CEO. However, the topic of succession was never brought up during this latest call.

We’re expecting BIG news from Disney in the next few days at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, so keep following DFB for all your Disney news!

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