Bob Iger stepped down from his role of Disney CEO in February, but he has now postponed semi-retirement to retake control of the company as it braces for changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Iger transitioned into a new role at Disney as executive chairman to focus on the company’s “creative endeavors” after exiting as CEO. But he has “effectively returned to running the company” in recent weeks amid the coronavirus crisis and has “smoothly reasserted control,” according to The New York Times.
“A crisis of this magnitude and its impact on Disney would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob [Chapek] and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years,” he told the NYT’s Media Columnist Ben Smith in an email.
Smith wrote that Iger is also discussing what the company will look like post-pandemic, beyond figuring out how to get the parks back on line, including the possibility of temperature checks. He has asked associates to explore permanent changes across businesses that might include ending expensive upfront advertiser presentations and no longer producing costly pilots for shows that might not air.