Robert Alan Iger (/ˈaɪɡər/; born February 10, 1951)[3] is an American media executive who is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company.[4] He previously was the President of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996. Iger was named President of Disney in 2000 and succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005, until his contract expired in 2020. He then was Executive Chairman until his formal retirement from the company on December 31, 2021. After his exit from the company, Iger continued as an advisor to his successor.
However, at the request of Disney's board of directors, Iger returned to Disney as CEO on November 20 2022, following the unscheduled and immediate dismissal of his appointed successor, Bob Chapek.[5] Iger's 2023 pay package included a base salary of $865,385, stock awards of $16.1 million, $10 million in stock option awards, $2.1 million in performance-based compensation and $2.48 million in other compensation, leading to a total pay award of $31.6 million, according to Disney's annual proxy statement. In July 2023, Disney renewed Iger's contract until 2026.
Robert Alan Iger was born to a Jewish family in New York City.[4][3][7][8] He is the oldest son of Miriam "Mimi" (née Tunick) (1927–2013) and Arthur L. Iger (1926–2010).[9][10] His father was a World War II Navy veteran[11] who was the executive vice president and general manager of the Greenvale Marketing Corporation, and was also a professor of advertising and public relations.[12][9][11] His mother worked at Boardman Junior High School in Oceanside, New York.[13][14] Arthur's father Joe (i.e. Bob's paternal grandfather) was cartoonistJerry Iger's brother.[2]
Iger began his media career in 1972 as the host of Campus Probe, an Ithaca College television show. He dreamed of becoming a news anchor while he worked as a weatherman in Ithaca for five months, before shifting his career goals.[18][19]
In 1974, Iger joined the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).[20][21] His first job was performing menial labor on television sets for $150 a week (over $700, adjusted for inflation).[11]
In 1988, Iger was the senior program executive for the Calgary Winter Olympics. The event was marred by disruptive weather and delayed events, and to fill the broadcast schedule Iger's team focused on human interest stories such as those of the Jamaican bobsled team and Eddie the Eagle. The event achieved record-high ratings for ABC, and Iger's performance under pressure caught the attention of ABC executives Daniel Burke and Thomas Murphy, who subsequently championed Iger throughout his ascent at ABC.[22]
In 1989, he was named head of ABC Entertainment, green lighting shows such as Twin Peaks, America's Funniest Home Videos[23] and Cop Rock.[24][25] He was president of the ABC Network Television Group from January 1993 to 1994, and was appointed as Capital Cities/ABC senior vice president in March 1993 and executive vice president in July 1993.[26] In 1994, Iger was named president and chief operating officer of ABC's corporate parent, Capital Cities/ABC.[27]
In 1995,[28] The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC and renamed it ABC, Inc., where Iger remained chairman until 1999.[29][3]
On February 25, 1999, Disney named Iger the president of Walt Disney International, the business unit that oversees Disney's international operations, as well as chairman of the ABC Group, removing him from day-to-day authority at ABC. Disney called the change a promotion for Iger.[30]
Disney named Iger the president and chief operating officer (COO) on January 24, 2000, making him Disney's No. 2 executive under chairman and CEO, Michael Eisner. Disney had been without a separate president since Eisner assumed the role following the departure of Michael Ovitz in 1997, after sixteen months at Disney.[31]
In 2003, board members Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold began a campaign called "save Disney" against Eisner.[32][33] As a result, Disney began a search for the next CEO to replace Eisner. On March 13, 2005, Disney announced that Iger would succeed Michael Eisner as CEO, and Iger was placed in charge of day-to-day operations, though Eisner held the title of CEO until he resigned on September 30, 2005.[34] In July 2005, Disney and Gold dropped the campaign and agreed to work with Iger.[35]
One of Iger's first major decisions as CEO was to reassign Disney's chief strategic officer, Peter Murphy, and disband the company's Strategic Planning division.[36] It was around this time Iger started to become known as "Bob" rather than "Robert".
In August 2009, Iger negotiated for Disney to acquire Marvel Entertainment and its associated assets for $4 billion. By 2014, Disney had grossed more than that amount at the box office through the Marvel movies.[39] On October 7, 2011, Disney announced that Iger would become chairman of the board, following John Pepper's retirement from the board in March 2012.[40]
Iger's contract as Disney's chairman and CEO was originally planned to run until June 30, 2018.[43][44] In March 2017, Disney extended Iger's term to July 2, 2019, and said he would be a consultant for the following three years.[45][46] In December 2017, Disney extended Iger's contract through 2021.[47]
In April 2019, it was announced that Iger would depart from his position as CEO and chairman of Disney when his contract expired in 2021.[50][51] Iger resigned from Apple's board of directors on September 10, 2019, in order to avoid a conflict of interest as Disney and Apple prepared to launch competing streaming services Disney+ and Apple TV+.[52][53]
In 2020, Iger announced his intention to retire. On February 25 that year, the board of directors named Bob Chapek – then-chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products – the new chief executive, while appointing Iger executive chairman (an ad hoc post) to oversee the transition.[55][56] In April however, the board unexpectedly extended Iger's mandate until the end of 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[57][58] On December 31, 2021, Iger stepped down and was succeeded by Susan Arnold as chair of the board.[59] However, on November 20, 2022, Chapek was ousted by the Disney board with Iger reinstated as CEO.[60] At the time of his rejoining Disney, Iger initially agreed to hold the post for two years while looking for a successor.[61][62] However, on July 12, 2023, Iger and Disney extended the contract until the end of 2026.[63][64]
On November 15, 2011, Apple, Inc., led by CEO Tim Cook, named Iger to its board of directors. Iger was reportedly responsible for making Steve Jobs Disney's largest shareholder after its all-stock acquisition of Jobs' Pixar.[65] In September 2019, Iger resigned from his position on the board after Apple announced the pricing and release date of Apple TV+, a subscription streaming service which would compete with Disney+ upon its launch in November 2021.[66]
Iger has been married twice. His first marriage to Kathleen Susan Iger ended in divorce.[70] They have two daughters. In 1995, Iger married journalist Willow Bay in an interfaith Jewish and Roman Catholic service in Bridgehampton, New York.[71]
According to Forbes, Iger's estimated net worth is over $700 million in 2024.[72]
Iger has described himself as a political centrist. He previously identified with the Democratic Party.[73] In 2016, Iger switched his party registration from Democratic to independent.[1]
In May 2016, during a dispute over Disney Resort's low wages, Iger wrote in a Facebook post claiming that Disney had hired 11,000 new employees in the past decade at Disneyland, and 18,000 in the past 5 years in the U.S. Iger specifically targeted Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders, who had been outspoken on the issue.[74] Disney settled with the Department of Labor and agreed to pay back wages the following year.[75]
In November 2017, Variety reported that Iger knew about a 2010 Oscar party where Pixar chief John Lasseter was seen "making out with a junior staffer", seeming to confirm anonymous allegations that Lasseter's inappropriate interactions with young women had been known to company leadership since the 1990s. One anonymous source was quoted as saying, "I know personally that Bob was aware. ... Everybody was aware. They just didn't do anything about it."[84]
In August 2019, Vanity Fair reported that actress Paz de la Huerta added Iger to her lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein over allegations of rape, claiming that he and previous CEO Michael Eisner "made a series of decisions that allowed a range of actions by Harvey Weinstein that unacceptably harmed certain employees".[85] Disney denied any knowledge of misconduct or settlements with victims during Weinstein's run at Miramax from 1993 to 2005.[84]
During a July 2023 interview on CNBC, Iger criticized the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes as "not realistic". He added that the unions "are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive."[86] Iger's comments were widely criticized both inside and outside of Hollywood for being elitist and out of touch, with The Huffington Post writer Marina Fang noting Iger's $27 million annual salary that he received when rejoining Disney.[86]
^ ab"Arthur L. Iger". New York City / Long Island: (Death notice) Newsday. May 25, 2010. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
^"Miriam A. Iger". New York City / Long Island: (Death notice) Newsday. March 13, 2013. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016.
