COO and Iger Heir Apparent Tom Staggs Leaving Disney

[UniversalCityFL]

I don't think so. Like I said above, the shine is off the apple. There's no where to go but down, and I think Bob wants to get out before that happens

It's still a delicious apple by almost any measure. But I think as far as Wall Street is concerned, the shine is indeed off. The success of Star Wars didn't affect the stock price because its value was already in the stock price. Same, I think, will go for Shanghai. It will open and be great, but it won't affect the stock since investors are already anticipating it. Civil War and Jungle Book will do great, but again, this means nothing to investors. Pixar is starting to show its cracks. And other than that we have a safe and successful future of sequels and franchise plays.

It's still the greatest entertainment company in the world, and it's at the top of it's game, but the problem is exactly that: it's reached the top, which is only a problem on this weird place called Wall Street.

 

[snayberry]

When you hit the ceiling, there is no where else to go but down.

 

[JungleSkip]

When you hit the ceiling, there is no where else to go but down.

Yea, that's my point. Disney is still a powerhouse, but there's no upward momentum, IMO

 

[Disneyhead]

They will look outside the company. They will be wooing people like Steve Burke.

 

[Nick]

They will look outside the company. They will be wooing people like Steve Burke.

Considering how much he believes in the parks, that would probably be best case scenario.

 

[JungleSkip]

They will look outside the company. They will be wooing people like Steve Burke.

Kathleen Kennedy. Book it.

I doubt Burke leaves Uni.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Wow. I actually kinda liked Staggs enough to not hate him if he became CEO.

With all of this Shanghai nonsense and cost-cutting going around, he could've been made to leave to save a huge chunk of salary.

Well, he is still employed as some sort of advisor to Iger until SEPT

 

[Disneyhead]

Kathleen Kennedy. Book it.

I doubt Burke leaves Uni.

I know there is a lot of bad blood between Burke and Disney, but if it were offered, I have to believe "CEO of DisCo." would make him consider the offer. And he may feel there is unfinished business with Disney.

Anyway, I feel confident the next CEO will be from outside the company and from the media world and not theme parks.

 

[Nick]

I know there is a lot of bad blood between Burke and Disney, but if it were offered, I have to believe "CEO of DisCo." would make him consider the offer. And he !y feel there is unfinished business with Disney.

Anyway, I feel confident the next CEO will be from outside the company and from the media world and not theme parks.

Problem is, there's no where to go but down for Disney right now.

Burke is in a great position at Comcast where there's still a lot of room to grow and he's tuned the Parks into the #1 revenue stream. I don't see it.

 

[Disneyhead]

Problem is, there's no where to go but down for Disney right now.

Burke is in a great position at Comcast where there's still a lot of room to grow and he's tuned the Parks into the #1 revenue stream. I don't see it.

Disney is going to go down. It is becoming obvious to everyone. They need to find someone that can limit the damage and right the ship asap.

This could get pretty ugly.

 

[Mad Dog]

Disney is going to go down. It is becoming obvious to everyone. They need to find someone that can limit the damage and right the ship asap.

This could get pretty ugly.

Yes, unfinished business & bad decisions has a way of catching up. And when it's time to pay the piper, the cost is greatly inflated.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Kathleen Kennedy. Book it.

I doubt Burke leaves Uni.

I agree that Kathleen is possible..but one other in particular that I haven't really seen get all that praise, is Alan Horn; of WDS (Walt Disney Studios).

I'd say the chances of Alan getting it is more likely than Kathleen would, and they are showing that they can do extremely well with their film departments; as it would make sense to have Alan step in Igers shoes..

 

[Disneyhead]

The Hollywood Reporter has some suggestions.

Now That Thomas Staggs Is Out, Who Might Be Disney's Next CEO? - Hollywood Reporter

 

[GadgetGuru]

Burke does have a pretty perfect resume for running Disney. I can't see Comcast letting him leave Universal. I imagine that Comcast will first go the GE/Google route of creating several mini companies first and give him CEO slot of a fully autonomous Universal (is it already like that?)

Honestly, I don't see parks or films being affected by this. I really see Disney spinning off ESPN to compensate for a brewing mess. It's ancillary from the rest of the business and it's driving down profits. ABC might happen to, but I'm less certain about that.

 

[Mad Dog]

Burke, of all people, would be aware of the precarious position the parks are in due to the previous lack of investment, and the problems with the foreign parks. And then there's the ESPN potential for difficulties due to subscriber losses and overly generous contracts with sports organizations. Disney will be a tough nut to crack for Iger's successor. So much downside potential. It will be tough to look good. Burke would be foolish to leave Comcast for that.

 

[Nick]

Burke, of all people, would be aware of the precarious position the parks are in due to the previous lack of investment, and the problems with the foreign parks. And then there's the ESPN potential for difficulties due to subscriber losses and overly generous contracts with sports organizations. Disney will be a tough nut to crack for Iger's successor. So much downside potential. It will be tough to look good. Burke would be foolish to leave Comcast for that.

Burke even knows Disney's parks intimately having worked as COO for Euro Disney back in the 90's, so he knows the mess they have there too. To add on, he wouldn't be taking much (if any) of a raise. Burke makes just about the same amount of money Iger does.

 

[Mad Dog]

Burke even knows Disney's parks intimately having worked as COO for Euro Disney back in the 90's, so he knows the mess they have there too. To add on, he wouldn't be taking much (if any) of a raise. Burke makes just about the same amount of money Iger does.

Yes, I agree. I was aware of that plus it wasn't an amiable seperation from what I've read. The Burke move makes no sense to me......My analogy. Universal/Comcast is like a young sports team with a lot of potential talent, hungry for a championship. Disney is similar to a team comprised of overpaid, over the hill veterans, whose best years are far behind them. What team would you want to be on?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

There's too much up in the air to even think about next steps. Hell I don't think the board had a direction quite yet. I believe this decision happened mid to late last week.

Staggs and Rasulo will be "consultants" which means they'll be on an extended vacation in Hawaii with a phone for awhile. I imagine Burke will be approached and Comcast knows that.

 

[GadgetGuru]

I have to say, everybody's pretty negative about what this means for Disney. Not as much as a certain magical scorched-earth hellscape that some of us visit online, but negative.

It'll be 2018 until the new CEO is figured out. It'll be a couple years before that person will be able to make a marked impact on the company. Hell, I'd say that the real start of Iger's rein was the Marvel buy-out and that wasn't that far ago.

 

[Brian G.]

I have to say, everybody's pretty negative about what this means for Disney. Not as much as a certain magical scorched-earth hellscape that some of us visit online, but negative.

It'll be 2018 until the new CEO is figured out. It'll be a couple years before that person will be able to make a marked impact on the company. Hell, I'd say that the real start of Iger's rein was the Marvel buy-out and that wasn't that far ago.

I'd actually argue it was when he brought Pixar back under the umbrella and locked them up - but agreed on other points.