Disney CEO Bob Iger ‘never second-guessed’ decision to return
Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger is content with his decision to return to the company — despite the many challenges he’s faced so far.
“I knew that there were myriad challenges that I would face coming back,” Iger said during a town hall he hosted with employees on Tuesday. “I won’t say that it was easy, but I’ve never second-guessed the decision to come back, and being back still feels great.”
The conversation took place exactly one year to the day since Iger held his first town hall following his dramatic return as CEO. Since that time, Disney’s stock has hit multiyear lows while activist investor Nelson Peltz launched yet another fight against the media giant. This time, he’s pushing for multiple board seats.
On top of that, the company’s parks business is slowing, its linear TV division is declining, and its streaming business is not yet profitable. There have been more misses than hits at the box office as investors question whether or not Disney has lost its magic.
Disney shares, which were down about 2.5% on Tuesday, have risen about 6% since the start of the year — massively underperforming the S&P’s (^GSPC) 18% gain over that same time period. Still, Iger said there are reasons to be optimistic about its future.
“We have real reason at Disney to be optimists, and it starts with the fact that we’re Disney,” he told employees. “And Disney, as you know, is a brand unto itself, but it’s also an umbrella company that houses many assets and many great brands. So, reason to be optimistic number one is that.”
Iger previously said the company will be focused on “four key building opportunities” moving forward, which will include “achieving significant and sustained profitability in our streaming business, building ESPN into the preeminent digital sports platform, improving the output and economics of our film studios, and turbocharging growth in our parks and experiences business.”
In order to accomplish those goals, Iger said he will be assessing the long-term potential for all of Disney’s assets, with a particular focus on future growth.
“As is the case with all of our businesses, which we must do in order to basically serve shareholders, is we look at the future of all of our business with an eye towards are these businesses going to grow?” he said. “Will they stay the same or will they possibly decrease in value? And if so, what should we do about it?”
Overall, the executive said Tuesday this past year has been spent “fixing a lot of things” but that the company has “emerged from a period of a lot of fixing to one of building again.”
“I can tell you building is a lot more fun than fixing,” he quipped.
