Bob Iger

Robert Alan Iger is a prominent American media executive. He is best known for serving as the chief executive officer, or CEO, of the Walt Disney Company. A CEO is the highest-ranking person in a company. Iger has led Disney during two separate periods. His first term began in 2005 and lasted until 2020. After a brief retirement, he returned to the role on November 20, 2022. His current contract was extended in 2023 and runs until 2026. He plans to officially step down as CEO on March 18, 2026.

Iger is considered a visionary leader because of how he grew Disney's reach. During his first 15 years, he helped increase the company's market capitalization significantly. Market capitalization is the total value of a company's shares of stock. Under his stewardship, this value rose from $56 billion to $231 billion. He achieved this by expanding Disney's presence in international markets. He also focused on growing the company's direct-to-consumer businesses. These include streaming services like Disney+ and Hulu. He also helped build theme park resorts in East Asia. These include the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and the Shanghai Disney Resort, which opened in 2016 at a cost of $5.5 billion.

A major part of Iger's strategy involved large acquisitions. An acquisition is when one company buys another company. In 2006, Iger led the $7.4 billion purchase of Pixar. In 2009, he negotiated the $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment. In 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion. This deal gave Disney the rights to the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. His largest acquisition occurred in 2019 when Disney bought the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion. These moves allowed Disney to own many famous intellectual properties. Intellectual property refers to creative works like characters and stories that a company owns.

Iger's career began with humble beginnings in the television industry. He graduated from Ithaca College in 1973 with a degree in Television and Radio. He joined the American Broadcasting Company, known as ABC, in 1974. His first role involved performing menial labor on television sets for $150 a week. He eventually rose through the ranks at ABC. In 1988, he served as the senior program executive for the Calgary Winter Olympics. When disruptive weather caused delays in the broadcast, Iger's team focused on human interest stories. These stories helped the event achieve record-high ratings for ABC. This success helped him become the president of the ABC Network Television Group.

Before joining Disney, Iger held several leadership roles at Capital Cities/ABC. He served as president and chief operating officer, or COO, of the company. A COO is a high-level executive who manages a company's daily operations. In 1995, the Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC. This acquisition led to Iger being named president of Walt Disney International in 1999. He later became the president and COO of Disney in 2000. He served as the number two executive under CEO Michael Eisner. In 2005, Iger succeeded Eisner as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company.

Iger has also been involved in many other professional activities outside of Disney. In 2011, he joined the board of directors for Apple Inc. A board of directors is a group of people who oversee a company. He resigned from Apple's board in 2019 to avoid a conflict of interest. This happened because Disney+ and Apple TV+ would be competing streaming services. He has also worked with other organizations like Perfect Day and Genies, Inc. Additionally, Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, invested $100 million to gain a majority stake in Angel City FC. This is a professional women's soccer team based in Los Angeles. To prevent conflicts, he recuses himself from Disney business matters related to the league.

Iger was born in New York City to an Austrian-Jewish family. His father, Arthur L. Iger, was a Navy veteran and a professor. His mother, Miriam, worked at a junior high school. Iger grew up in Oceanside and attended the Fulton Avenue School. He graduated from Oceanside High School in 1969. Throughout his life, he has been involved in various public and political matters. He has described himself as a centrist in politics. In 2019, he released a memoir titled The Ride of a Lifetime. He has received many honors, including being named Time's Businessperson of the Year in 2019.