How a CEO undermined his chosen successor and returned to power
When Disney’s Bob Iger stepped down as CEO, he stayed on as “creative director” and executive chair – to the ultimate dismay and downfall of his successor, Bob Chapek.
At 5pm on February 25, 2020, Bob Chapek and Bob Iger settled into matching directors’ chairs on The Walt Disney studio lot for a series of live media interviews. The company had just shocked pretty much everybody by announcing that the little-known Chapek would be replacing the wildly popular Iger as CEO.
The bald and stocky Chapek and the greying but still debonair Iger struck an immediate contrast, even though both were dressed in navy suits and open-collar white shirts and both were named Bob. To avoid confusion, some referred to them as “Bob One” and “Bob Two,” or “Big Bob” and “Little Bob” (even though Chapek was taller and heavier). And then there was “Handsome Bob” and “Boring Bob.”
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