Disney CEO Bob Iger 'never doubted' his decision to return
Disney (DES) CEO Bob Iger is happy with his decision to return to the company, despite the many challenges he has faced so far.
"I knew there would be countless challenges I would face upon returning," Iger said during a town hall meeting he hosted with employees on Tuesday. "I won't say it was easy, but I never doubted the decision to come back, and being back still feels great."
The conversation took place exactly one year to the day since Iger held his first town hall after his dramatic return as executive director. Since then, Disney shares have risen multi-year lows while activist investor Nelson Peltz launched another fight against the media giant. This time, he is pushing for multiple board seats.
Besides that, the company parks business is slowing down, its linear television division is declining and its streaming business is not yet profitable. Has been more failures than successes at the box office while investors wonder whether or not Disney has lost its magic.
Disney shares, which fell about 2.5% on Tuesday, are up about 6% since the beginning of the year, massively underperforming the S&P (^GSPC) 18% gain over that same time period. Still, Iger said there are reasons to be optimistic about his future.
"At Disney we have real reasons to be optimistic, and it all starts with the fact that we are Disney," he told employees. "And Disney, as you know, is a brand in itself, but it's also a company that houses a lot of assets and a lot of great brands. So the number one reason to be optimistic is that."
Iger previously said the company will focus on "four key building opportunities" going forward, which will include "achieving significant and sustained profitability in our streaming business, make ESPN the leading digital sports platformimproving the production and economics of our film studios and driving the growth of our parks and experience businesses.โ
To achieve those goals, Iger said he will evaluate the long-term potential of all of Disney's assets, with a focus on future growth.
"As is the case with all of our businesses, which we must do to basically serve shareholders, do we look at the future of all of our businesses with a view to whether these businesses are going to grow?" he said. "Will they stay the same or possibly decrease in value? And if so, what should we do about it?"
Overall, the executive said Tuesday that the past year was spent "fixing a lot of things," but that the company "has come out of a period of a lot of repairs to one of building again."
"I can tell you that building is a lot more fun than fixing," he joked.
