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Additionally, there’s the
question of whether Disney
will appoint a No. 2 under
Chapek, as has traditionally
been part of the Burbank en-
tertainment giant’s man-
agement structure. Disney
also eventually will have to
decide who will lead its
highly successful collection
of movie studios once Alan
Horn, 77, retires. Horn last
year renewed his contract
for an unspecified number of
years, as the studio’s main
business executive, Alan
Bergman, was elevated to
co-chair alongside him.
People close to the com-
pany noted that Disney has
a strong bench of executives
who could take over
Chapek’s former role in
parks and products, and
that the firm is in no rush to
install someone. Disney’s
parks veterans include Walt
Disney World Resort Presi-
dent Josh D’Amaro, Disney-
land Resorts President Re-
becca Campbell and Disney
Parks International Presi-
dent Michael A. Colglazier.
Chapek, meanwhile, has
spent 27 years at various di-
visions, including the last
few years overseeing 170,
parks and resorts employ-
ees, making him well-suited
to lead Disney through the
crisis, analysts said.
“Chapek is very good on
the execution side,” said
Steven Kaplan, a professor
and corporate governance
expert at the University of
Chicago’s Booth School of
Business. “He makes deci-
sions and gets things done.”
He faces steep challenges
ahead. The virus outbreak
has already shut down Dis-
ney’s resorts in Shanghai
and Hong Kong for weeks,
and it remains unclear how
attendance at other parks
might be affected as the
virus spreads in the U.S. and
Europe. Disney’s studios
may also feel the pain. No
one knows when Disney will
be able to release its live-ac-
tion remake of “Mulan” in
Chinese theaters, the vast
majority of which remain
closed. “Mulan” is set to hit
U.S. cinemas March 27.
“Disney is in the same
boat as everyone else,” said
Doug Creutz, a media ana-
lyst at Cowen & Co. “No one
knows how this is going to
go. Their primary concern is
the safety of the customers
and employees. Chapek
understands this as well as
anyone.”
Chapek’s selection came
shortly before Disney’s an-
nual shareholder meeting,
taking place Wednesday in
Raleigh, N.C. The Q&A ses-
sions at Disney’s annual
meetings have traditionally
veered between serious busi-
ness topics — including
Iger’s pay and the health of
ESPN — and lighthearted
queries about the availabili-
ty of Pixar studio tours. This
year, the leadership could
face tough questions about
management plans and the
coronavirus outbreak.
The timing of the succes-
sion announcement threw
some investors for a loop,
coming just as the co-
ronavirus situation began to
escalate outside China. Iger
stepped down with 22
months left on his contract,
saying he wanted to focus on
the creative side of the busi-
ness, while handing day-to-
day management to
Chapek. Disney stock, which
has enjoyed years of in-
creases under Iger, sank last
week amid the executive
change and pandemic fears.
Disney shares closed at
$115.27 on Friday, up $1.29, or
1.1%.
The abrupt announce-
ment also surprised Disney
insiders. Iger’s senior team,
including Mayer, didn’t
learn of the move until
shortly before Disney issued
a press release that an-
nounced Chapek’s eleva-
tion. That morning, Mayer
had appointed a new presi-
dent of Hulu and was at atown hall meeting at Hulu’s
Santa Monica head-
quarters.
Some industry observers
shrugged off the timing,
however. “The alternative
view is, when would be a
good time to announce
this?” Choi said. “I struggle
to think of when it would be a
good time to announce a
hall-of-fame executive is
stepping down.”
Some of the biggest hur-
dles for Disney fall to Mayer,
who must work closely with
Iger and Chapek to grow
Disney+ by increasing pro-gramming and expanding
globally. Mayer is also
tasked with growing Hulu,
which has been under Dis-
ney control since last year.
Hulu is a key part of Disney’s
streaming strategy, as the
new home of programming
from FX Networks. The
service also must pursue its
long-awaited international
expansion.
“There’s still been a rela-
tive lack of clarity around
Hulu, compared to Dis-
ney+,” Creutz said.
People close to Mayer
and Chapek said the execu-
tives get along well. Both are
longtime Disney insiders
and exacting bosses who
have touched multiple parts
of Disney’s empire. The in-
terconnected nature of Dis-
ney’s numerous businesses
— theme parks, cruise ships,
Broadway plays, movies and
TV shows, toys and so on —
requires division heads to
collaborate more frequently
than at more siloed rivals.
For example, “The Imagi-
neering Story,” a documen-
tary miniseries about the
history and creation of Dis-
ney theme parks, was pro-
duced for Disney+.
Mayer, who holds anMBA from Harvard Uni-
versity, joined Disney in 1993,
the same year as Chapek, in
the strategic planning divi-
sion. Intense and highly fo-
cused, he rose through the
ranks to become head of Dis-
ney’s internet group before
leaving to run Playboy En-
terprises’ digital subsidiary.
After stints at Clear
Channel and L.E.K. Con-
sulting, Mayer returned to
Disney in 2005, when Iger be-
came CEO. He came in as
head of strategic planning,
which Iger had reduced to 15
employees from 65 after
years of what he saw as too
much power concentrated in
the division.
Since then, Mayer over-
saw the blockbuster acquisi-
tions that made Disney the
dominant force it is today,
including Pixar Animation
Studios, Marvel Entertain-
ment, Lucasfilm and 21st
Century Fox Inc. One key
deal was Disney’s takeover
of technology company
BAMTech, which provided
the backbone of Disney’s
streaming services. Less
successful were the acquisi-
tions of YouTube creator
network Maker Studios and
online game maker ClubPenguin.
In the acknowledgments
section of Iger’s 2019 book,
“The Ride of a Lifetime,” he
described Mayer as “a mas-
ter strategist and deal-
maker.”
“A CEO couldn’t ask for a
better strategic partner,”
Iger wrote.
There’s also no saying
Mayer won’t have another
shot at the CEO job some-
time in the future. Barclays’
Venkateshwar floated the
idea that Mayer could even-
tually be named chief op-
erating officer under
Chapek, who is 60, but cau-
tioned there was no indica-
tion from management that
this was in the cards.
For now, Disney appears
to want to keep Mayer fo-
cused on building out the
streaming platforms. And
Wall Street will be paying
close attention to the sub-
scriber numbers.
“Kevin’s still got a pretty
important job,” Creutz said.
“You could say he’s still in
charge of the future of the
company.”Times staff writers Meg
James and Stacy Perman
contributed to this report.BOB CHAPEK, shown at D23 Expo 2019 in Anaheim, was the surprise appointment for Disney CEO this
week. Kevin Mayer, however, could determine the company’s path forward despite being bypassed for the job.Getty ImagesHe’s not CEO,
but Mayer has
important job
[Disney,from C1]
‘Kevin Mayer still
gets to lead the
most important
part of the com-
pany, so I could
see him and [Bob]
Chapek working
well together.’
— Andrew Choi,
senior research analyst at
Parnassus Investments