Iger Responds to Whether He Regrets Appointing Chapek as Disney CEO

Following Bob Iger’s return as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, he participated in the first quarter earnings call on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, and he has continued to answer questions regarding the state of the company and his return to the position.

With a renewed focus on creativity and streamlining costs to boost revenue, particularly for areas of the company that reported losses this quarter like Disney+, Iger has turned to share his thoughts on both Disney’s future and its near past.

RELATED: CEO Bob Iger Hints at Triumphant Return For Walt Disney Company

Iger’s return to the company of course follows the ousting of his predecessor Bob Chapek, who was appointed to the position before Iger’s retirement. While public discourse on Chapek’s removal from the company has quieted down as the focus has shifted to the future under Iger, we can’t help but wonder if there are any regrets in assigning Chapek to the position in the first place.

We are not alone in this question, as it is one of the comments that came up during Iger’s comments on CNBC this morning, Thursday, February 9, 2023.

Iger was asked if he regrets choosing Chapek:

"We thought we made the right decision when we chose Bob back in 2020. The board decided in November he was not the right person for the job and they made a change. With any big decision, you should learn from what went wrong."

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) February 9, 2023

RELATED: Is This The Highest Contender For the Next CEO of the Walt Disney Company?

When asked if he has any regrets on choosing Chapek as his successor, theme park reporter Scott Gustin shared Iger’s response:

We thought we made the right decision when we chose Bob back in 2020. The board decided in November he was not the right person for the job and they made a change. With any big decision, you should learn from what went wrong.

Iger was then asked if he wanted to discuss what went wrong, to which he replied, “No, I’m not going to get into that.”

RELATED: The Best Reactions to Disney CEO Bob Chapek Getting Fired

As far as learning from what went wrong, while Iger has not drawn a clear connection to Chapek specifically, he has already begun restructuring the company with a greater focus on creativity. In addition, several executives who worked closely with Chapek have stepped down as Iger works internally on creating a new structure within the company.

We at Disney Tips will continue to monitor updates from the Walt Disney Company and will report back with more information as we have it.