LOS ANGELES: Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger is expected to discuss a turnaround plan on Wednesday, when the media company delivers its first quarterly results since the return of the executive who built the modern incarnation of Disney.
As anxiety sweeps across the rank and file at the entertainment conglomerate, according to employees and company observers, investors said they anticipate Iger will articulate a new vision for the company he built and ran for 15 years.
"It's Bob Iger presenting for the first time in public. Everybody’s going to be listening," said Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich. "This is the right place to do it. It’s the right time."
Disney and Iger are under pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz, chief executive of Trian Fund Management, who has launched a proxy battle to place him on the board. He has accused the company of underperforming financially, despite its global scale and collection of powerful entertainment brands.
The company urged its shareholders to reject Peltz's bid, noting in a Feb. 2 letter that the board has the right combination of experience, skills and perspective to guide Disney through an unprecedented period of change. It also endorsed Iger's leadership, adding that Disney generated a shareholder return of 554% under his previous tenure as CEO.
Shortly after returning as CEO in November, Iger announced plans to restore decision-making power to the company's creative executives. That change resulted in the departure of Kareem Daniel, head of the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution group created by Iger's predecessor, Bob Chapek, to consolidate budgeting and distribution for the studio's content.
In Disney's famously tight-lipped culture, even senior executives say they do not know what is to come. Discussions about the restructuring are taking place at the highest level of the company, involving general entertainment chief Dana Walden, film Chairman Alan Bergman, ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro and Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy. (Reuters)