Bob Iger, After Winning Fierce Proxy Fight, Says Disney Board’s No. 1 Priority Is CEO Succession: ‘They’re Treating It With a Sense of Urgency’
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor A day after Disney declared victory over activist investor Nelson Peltz, CEO Bob Iger said the board is proceeding with “urgency” in trying to identify the next chief executive with the “distraction” of the proxy fight over. “This was decisive in terms of how shareholders voted,” Iger said in an appearance Thursday morning on CNBC from Disney’s Burbank, Calif., headquarters, about the results of the April 3 meeting.
Succession “is the board’s No. 1 priority,” Iger said, saying the board’s search committee to find a CEO successor met seven times in 2023 and plans to meet even more frequently this year. “They’re treating it with a sense of urgency because it is so important,” Iger said.
The board is “taking it very, very seriously” because “I’m not going to be here forever.” Iger declined to provide a timeline for the selection of a new CEO; his contract extension with Disney runs through the end of 2026.
Internal CEO candidates the Disney board is said to be considering are its four division heads: Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and Josh D’Amaro, head of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
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