Disney CEO Bob Iger Announces Departure

Bob Iger’s retirement won’t happen right away, however, as the multimillionaire plans to step down when his contract formally ends in the year 2026, per a recent report from Fox Business.

Iger previously stepped down from the role in 2021, allowing Bob Chapek to hold the position for just under two years before being ousted by the board.

This serves as one of many retirement announcements from Bob Iger, who has held the position of Disney CEO off and on since 2005.

After reclaiming his position from Chapek in November of 2022, Iger repeatedly told the media that he only planned to stay for two years, intending to right some of Chapek’s poor business choices and set the course for a new successor.

Now, Iger seems to be singing a different tune, indicating to media outlets that his contract is set to extend through to 2026.

This seems to be par for the course for Bob Iger, who pushed back similar retirement announcements nearly half a dozen times before finally taking the plunge when his last contract concluded in 2020.

At the time, Iger had handpicked Chapek, who had previously served as Disney’s parks chairman, as his replacement.

Of course, as we now know, Iger never truly had any plans to retire fully, transitioning his role under the Chapek banner to that of an executive chairman, directing the company alongside the board.

In his role as executive chairman, Bob Iger also retained control over movie and television content, signaling an odd and confusing power structure at Disney.

Iger even kept his expansive Disney headquarters office, complete with a vanity and private shower, originally constructed for former CEO Michael Eisner.

According to Disney insiders, Chapek agreed to these terms before signing on as the CEO, but privately explained to colleagues that he felt terrified and helpless under the watchful gaze of his predecessor.

So it seems that Bob Iger never truly left the company at all, opting instead to prop a thinly-veiled shadow of a successor in place for media purposes while secretly pulling the strings like Emperor Palpatine.

And like Palpatine, Iger somehow returned to reclaim his previous position, only to quickly succumb to the very conditions which demanded his departure in the first place.

Shortly after his CEO title was officially restored, Iger promised to slash budgets for major Disney franchises such as Marvel and Star Wars, in a bid to mitigate the over-saturation of the brands.

If history serves, there’s no telling what exactly Bob Iger plans to do when his current contract ends in 2026.

Will he calmly step down, properly give up his beloved private shower, and move on to a secluded beach where he can live out his days burning through his mountain of cash, unbothered by the diminishing state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Or will he pull another Sith Lord move and attempt to hang on to his position from arms-length, refusing to relinquish the slightest bit of true power?

For now, only time will tell what Bob Iger has planned.