Bob Chapek Out as CEO - Not An Apple Moment

About a year ago I wrote a post pondering if the criticisms about Disney CEO Bob Chapek were ones that come with a changing of the guard; like Apple experienced after Tim Cook took the helm.  

Turns out, this isn’t the case.  Many were calling for him to be fired … and that time has come.

The impression that Bob Iger left on the Walt Disney Company looms large and the early mistakes that Chapek had made as CEO made it even more difficult for him to forge his own way.  Variety writes a little more in depth about this: Bob Chapek‘s Early Blunders Made It Hard to Escape Bob Iger’s Shadow at Disney

But Bob Chapek was clearly creating some distance between the company and its customers, shareholders, cast members, and talent.   The complaints mounted and started to speak volumes.  In regards to a bad fit for an executive role, Michael Eisner summed it up best in his 1998 book A Work in Progress: “Disney wasn’t mired in the usual corporate politics.  This was a full-blown crisis, and it was tearing the company apart.^[1]” Ultimately, to put the company on the proper path, that person wound up leaving.  History seems to be repeating itself. 

Disney Stock Price on November 9, 2022 - the day after 3Q earnings report

I have to admit, I was really rooting for the guy to succeed. Bob Iger can’t stay in the role forever and the company needs a good steward and it would be a shame to see the company follow the path of General Electric.  Disney doesn’t have a smoothest of track records when it comes to leadership succession and it would have been nice to see a smooth(ish) passing of the torch. In 1984, Walt’s son-in-law Ron Miller was fired^[2] after a brief tenure as CEO and and Michael Eisner was brought in. Eisner himself was asked to step down in 2004^[3]with then President and COO, Bob Iger, eventually succeeding him.  Now Disney has another one for the books.

With Bob Chapek out Bob Iger has returned to right the ship and find a successor yet again. I suppose time will tell if Disney can break the chain of rough successions and who will carry that torch. 

References:

[1] Michael Eisner and Tony Schwartz, Work in Progress . (New York: Random House, 1998), 388

[2] Hayes Thomas C. (Sept 8, 1984). "Disney Chief is Forced Out" NyTimes.com.  Accessed Nov 21, 2022

[3] Verrier, Richard (Sept 11, 2004) "Disney's Eisner Will Step Down" orlandosentinel.com. Accessed Nov 21, 2022

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Paging Mr. Moro

 

For fans of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, you’ve no doubt heard the phrase: “Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow ...”  If not below is a YouTube short video from my last (June 2022) visit. 

Now the title of this post is not a not a misspelling.  When Bob Chapek became CEO of the Walt Disney Company; Josh D’Amoro took over as chairman of Disney Parks. 

I’m just really surprised there aren’t tons of PeopleMover memes or fan art circulating about the person running the parks has who has a last name that rhymes with tomorrow.  At least that’s what I gathered from how he pronounces it.

Walt Disney once said “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”   That probably goes for all the other parks as well.  The Disney parks are always changing; adding new attractions and even changing the old.  Maybe that’s a change that could be on the horizon to one day pay homage to the person is currently running the parks.  Paging Mr. Moro, Mr. D’a moro.

Paging Mr. Moro concept art

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A Stroll Through the Creations Shop, Oct 2021

So much has been written about the history of Mouse Gear I don’t think I could do one justice.   For this sake of this post, a very brief and high level summary would be that Mouse Gear opened in September 1999 in what was once Communicore East ^[1].  Twenty two years later, in September of 2021, the Creations Shop at Epcot would take Mouse Gear’s place.  Along with the Creations Shop, the former Communicore East building also houses the redesigned Club Cool (which we wrote about in a previous post: A Spin Through Club Cool)

From a 2021 Map, where Creations Shop is located

Since 2014, each time we visited Epcot we had to make a stop at Mouse Gear in the former Communicore East building. Valves on the pipes to nowhere gave me something to tinker with while my wife was looking for a new set of ears.  The walls above the merchandise were also decorated with a number of things that could capture my attention: such as shadows of Huey, Dewy, and Louie fighting with (who I’m assuming) is Donald in an office environment.  To my discredit, I didn’t take many photos of these things. But Yesterland has bunch of great Mouse Gear photos.  On January 4, 2020, Mouse Gear would relocate to a temporary location^[1] and it just wasn’t the Mouse Gear I grew to like since our first (re)visit in 2014. 

Partial view photo of the Mouse Gear sign I took on 2019 Visit 

On an October 2021 visit, we got a chance to visit the new Creations Shop.  It’s a great store.  It was well lit, vibrant, nicely spaced out, organized, and styled in the artistry that a Disney fan would love. However, that cartoonish playfulness of the old Mouse Gear is now gone.   It’s a great store.  But to me it seemed to have the experiential feel of a Nordstrom Rack or T.J. Maxx but for Disney merchandise.   We took a video of our stroll through the store in October (notice the Halloween merch). 

I like the store, I just miss the playfulness.  It may be that the redesigned Epcot will be more a bit more mature and serious; or it might be that guests are skewing older and want a shopping experience that is more adult.  Whatever the reason, there are 300 acres of Epcot to play around in.

Me, tinkering around at Mouse Gear in 2015

References:

[1] Mouse Gear Gifts with Real Character, Yesterland.com.  Accessed Dec 6, 2021

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Disney's Changing of The Guard May Be Having an Apple Moment

When the iconic (maybe that should read iConic) co-founder and CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, died in October of 2011 Tim Cook probably had the toughest job in corporate America … following in the footsteps of the visionary leader who resurrected Apple from the dead. In the year that followed, Cook’s criticisms piled up.  There was postulating that Steve Jobs would have fired Cook ^[1], insinuations that Jobs is “rolling over in his grave” with the changes that Cook had made^[2], and criticisms that Apple under Cook (and even Tim Cook himself) are just flat out boring ^[3].  So much so, even Marc Benioff (founder and CEO of Salesforce.com) Tweetstormed a number of criticisms including that he missed Steve Jobs as a result ^[4] .

Tim Cook's first product announcement as CEO of Apple

The story does get better in the next chapter.  In the years that followed, Apple would go on to release  the popular Apple Watch, introduce Air Pods, acquire Beats Electronics and Shazam, and launch the Apple TV+ streaming service which would go on to yield the award winning Ted Lasso series; to name a few.  The company would grow from $108 billion in annual revenues in 2011 to $365 billion in 2021; from a market capitalization of around $350 billion in 2011 to over $2.5 trillion in 2021. 

Bob Chapek and Bob Iger announcing the change in CEOs.

Currently, it seems that a similar drama is unfolding at the Walt Disney Company.   Bob Chapek, too, has a tough job following the charismatic Iger.  Under Iger's tutelage, The Walt Disney Company  the company acquired Pixar, Lucas Arts, Marvel Entertainment, and a large part of 21st Century Fox. Disney's market capitalization went from around $46 billion in 2005, the year Iger was named CEO, to approximately $257 billion in 2019.   In February 2020 Bob Iger announced he was stepping down as CEO of the company and become Executive Chairman; initiating long overdue plans to retire.  Iger postponed retiring in 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2019. He will leave the company at the end of 2021.  Bob Chapek was immediately named CEO; beginning his tenure just as COVID-19 started quickly unfold.  By mid-March, the WHO would declare it a pandemic and President Trump would declare it a National Emergency ^[5] 

Nov 21, 2021: Complaint about Genie+ on Twitter. 

February 2022 will start Bob Chapek’s second year as CEO of the company and, like Cook early on, the criticisms are piling up; including a Change.org petition to have him fired.  Complaints about paid replacement for FastPass+ (Genie+ and the Lightning Lanes), food portions, and the pausing of the Walt Disney World Annual Passes are promulgating a number of social media spots.  The guest complaints seem to be largely centered on the parks, but that’s not stopping the criticisms from talent and high profile executives as well. Imagineering is unsettled about relocating to Florida, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings actor Simu Liu lashed out at Bob Chapek for the CEO’s use of the word “experiment” on an earnings call^[6], and Hollywood veteran and IAC Chairman Barry Diller noted in an interview on CNBC that Bob Iger was uncharitably pushed aside by his successor.   

"Iger now being pushed to the sidelines by his successor, not very nicely by the way. Certainly doesn't deserve it," says Barry Diller on future of $DIS. pic.twitter.com/nCOtzL8uBQ

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) May 21, 2021

Time has shown that Tim Cook was a good choice to succeed Steve Jobs. With COVID-19 forcing the way companies to change the way they operate and a newly installed Chief Executive shaking up a company; this can really unsettle many of a company’s stakeholders.  From the parks to movies, from the early company history to the daily headlines of today; as hokey as it sounds I just love the magic of Disney.  My personal hope is that Bob Chapek is the right choice for the job.  The picture is not currently very bright but time will tell.   Bob Chapek clearly has a pretty tough job ahead of him. But  Bob Iger even stated to give the guy a chance: "'He’s very different from me,' Iger says. 'That doesn’t mean he can’t do the job well. Give him time. It’s the only fair thing to do.'" ^[7]

… and I remember when Tim Cook had the toughest job in corporate America.

References:

[1] Pendola, Rocco (Oct 2, 2012). "If Steve Jobs Were Alive, He Would Fire Tim Cook" TheStreet.com.  Accessed Nov 26, 2021

[2] Diaz, Jesus (May 29, 2012) "10 Changes That Must Have Steve Jobs Rolling In His Grave" gizmodo.com. Accessed Nov 26, 2021

[3 ] Brownlee, John (Sept 10, 2012) "Analyst: Tim Cook Is So Boring That Apple Will Have A Celebrity Intro The iPhone 5 Instead" CultOfMac.com. Accessed Nov 26, 2021

[4 ] Yarow, Jay (May 7, 2012) "Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Was Ripping Apple During The New iPad Event" BusinessInsider.com. Accessed Nov 26, 2021

[5 ] AJMC Staff (Jan 1, 2021) "A Timeline of COVID-19 Developments in 2020" AJMC.com. Accessed Nov 26, 2021

[6 ] Parker, Ryan (Aug 14, 2021) "‘Shang-Chi’ Star Simu Liu Fires Back at Disney CEO Over “Experiment” Comment" HollywoodReporter.com Accessed Nov 26, 2021

[7 ] Masters, Kim (Oct 6, 2021) "Bob Iger’s Long Goodbye" HollywoodReporter.com Accessed Nov 26, 2021

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