Disney’s Bob Iger steps down as CEO, to be replaced by Bob Chapek

The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday that Bob Iger will be stepping down as its chief executive officer (CEO) effective immediately, but will remain executive chairman of the company through 2021.

Bob Chapek, who served as the chairman of Disney Parks, will assume Iger’s role as CEO.

“With the successful launch of Disney’s direct-to-consumer businesses and the integration of Twenty-First Century Fox well underway, I believe this is an optimal time to transition to a new CEO,” Iger said in a statement. “I have the utmost confidence in Bob and look forward to working closely with him over the next 22 months as he assumes this new role and delves deeper into Disney’s multifaceted global businesses and operations, while I continue to focus on the company’s creative endeavors.”

Iger first joined ABC in 1974 and later served as president of the network when it was bought by Disney in 1996. He later became chief operating officer (COO) in 2000 and CEO in 2005.

His contract with Disney officially ends on Dec. 31, 2021.

The outgoing Disney chief was one of many names floated as a potential 2020 presidential candidate.

Iger previously admitted that he did have conversations with former President Barack Obama about running but joked that then-first lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters thought Iger already had a better job.

Someone who expressed support of a potential Iger candidacy was Oprah Winfrey.

“If Bob Iger had decided to run for president, I would be canvassing in Iowa right now,” she told Iger in a 2019 conversation. “I would be going door to door.”

“More than ever, every day, I wish you had done it,” she added.