It was a warm day on the studio lot in Burbank, California, and the CEO’s top lieutenants joined him to help with the judging. A George Lucas look-alike paraded by, which made Iger smile, then a merry Mary Poppins. But it had been a painful year at the Magic Kingdom, and the group representing Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion tilted a little dark. One of them hoisted a sign with a hatchet, dripping blood, a picture of Iger altered so he was smiling like Jack Nicholson in The Shining and the words, “I’m back!! 4 DAYS A WEEK BABY!!” The hatchet was presumably a symbol for cuts and layoffs, the creepy prose a reference to Iger’s unpopular return-to-work policy. “The vibe has been tough,” one Disney employee told us earlier this year. “They really put us through the ringer.”
In November 2022, Iger made a surprise return to Disney following a much-heralded (and very brief ) retirement to clean up the messes created by his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, and deal with a radically altered entertainment landscape. Within a year, he eliminated 8,000 positions as part of a $7.5 billion cost-cutting plan. Several of the company’s recent sequels, live-action remakes, and IP efforts had disappointed at the box office.
Wall Street was pressuring him to make Disney+ profitable. The debilitating actors and writers strikes were underway. And billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz was threatening an assault on the Magic Kingdom. The CEO’s latest contract is set to expire at the end of 2026, after he turns 75, and some of the lieutenants who helped him judge the costume contest are now in the running to be America’s next topIger.
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