Bob Iger to remain Disney CEO through 2026, doesn’t want to engage in ‘culture war’
BURBANK, Calif. (FLV) – Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger will remain at his post through 2026 after a contract extension, a move that comes months after Iger replaced former CEO Bob Chapek late last year.
According to CNBC, Iger didn’t plan to remain CEO for longer than two years as of late-2022.
“I want to ensure Disney is strongly positioned when my successor takes the helm,” the CEO said in a statement. “The importance of the succession process cannot be overstated.”
During an appearance with CNBC, he said some businesses are still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic – including Disney – and that there’s more work for him to do.
The extension comes as Disney battles Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board over developmental agreements made between the company and the former board that would’ve quashed state authority over the Walt Disney World area.
Speaking to CNBC, Iger commented on the feud with the Florida governor, saying Disney does not want to fight in a “culture war,” and he affirmed that Disney is not “sexualizing children,” calling that notion “quite frankly preposterous.”
Recently, Disney canceled a $1 billion Florida project to relocate a jobs to Central Florida, but maintained intentions on investing billions more in Walt Disney World.
After becoming the company’s CEO in 2022, Iger said he planned to “quiet things down” with regard to the battle with DeSantis and Florida.
“I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle and I have no idea exactly what its ramifications are in terms of the business itself, what I can say is the state of Florida has been important to us for a long time and we have been very important to the state of Florida,” he said last year.
Not long after, Florida lawmakers and the governor moved forward with seizing control of the independent special district that composed Walt Disney World’s massive property near Orlando, and legal battles ensued over Florida’s efforts to assert authority.
“First of all, this is self-dealing. They’re negotiating with themselves,” DeSantis said of Disney’s last-minute agreements with the former Reedy Creek board. “You can’t do that.”
“I think Disney has always viewed itself as being exempt from that constitutional process,” DeSantis said earlier this year. “Well, those days are over here in the state of Florida.”
A recent poll released by Florida Atlantic University found that 47% of Floridians support DeSantis in the battle against Disney, while 43% support the megacorporation. 9% did not know or had no opinion.
