Bob Iger: the man who reinvented Disney
Bob Iger is stepping down as head of the entertainment giant after 15 years in charge. He leaves a far stronger company in prime position for the future of film and television.

Long before he became Disney’s “celebrated supreme leader”, Bob Iger was a humble weatherman, starting his career in 1973 at a cable station in Ithaca, New York, “doing that awkward talking-into-space thing while reciting temperatures”, says The New York Times. Last week, he “went out as he came in” – marking his retirement with an unannounced star-turn in front of the weather map on an early morning KABC newscast in Los Angeles. “There is a light rain falling,” he announced. “However, this is just a prelude to a big storm.” Disney fans, who have largely enjoyed an enchanted period in the Magic Kingdom under Iger’s 15-year watch, will be hoping there’s no significance in that.
Iger’s four big deals
Iger’s big achievement has been to leave “a much stronger company than he inherited”, thanks to four key acquisitions, says the Financial Times. In 2006, he bought Pixar Animation (Toy Story, Finding Nemo) from Apple, following that up with Marvel Entertainment and Star Wars creator, Lucasfilm. His 2019 deal to buy 21st Century Fox from Rupert Murdoch for $71bn “sealed his reputation as a master dealmaker” – not least because it paved the way for Disney’s big push into streaming. The timely launch of Disney+ in 2019 not only took the battle to Netflix and Amazon, but saved his firm from catastrophe when Covid-19 struck, forcing the closure of cinemas and entertainment parks worldwide. Within 18 months, the service notched up 100 million subscribers (a feat that took Netflix more than a decade to achieve) ensuring Disney shares rebounded to record highs “even after other sources of revenue evaporated”.
The accepted wisdom in Hollywood is that this success couldn’t have happened to a better man. In a town of sharks, Iger is so renowned for his gentlemanly good manners and “honourable” dealings, that Variety dubbed him “The Cashmere Prince”. The worst his critics can come up is that he has cultivated “a cult of nice”. Perhaps the most inspiring thing, says the Los Angeles Times, is that no-one expected it to happen. Long “under-estimated” in the industry, few expected Iger to land the top job at Disney when his “larger-than-life” predecessor, Michael Eisner, stepped down – he was typecast as “a loyal drone”. And having got the job, expectations were low. As one top Hollywood player told The New York Times: “Nobody expected Bob Iger to be Bob Iger.”
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Getting things done
Iger, who these days comes across as “effortlessly elegant”, attributes his success to the hard work and discipline required to get on in life if you view yourself as “unexceptionable”. From early on in his career, “people started relying on me because they knew if they asked me to get something done… I would get it done”.
That sense of obligation and “sang-froid when things go wrong” dates back to his childhood, says The New York Times. Born in 1951, to a Jewish family in Oceanside, Long Island, his father – a trumpet player who became an advertising executive – suffered from “dark moods”. Bob’s role as the oldest son, as he relates in his memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, was to be “a calming influence in the house”. As a teenager, he worked as a stock boy in a hardware store, and later as a janitor for his school district. When he started in TV, he dreamed of being the next Walter Cronkite, but “was something of a flop, lasting only a year”, says The New York Times. He took an executive job with ABC, rising steadily up the ranks – a trajectory that continued when ABC was bought by Disney in 1995. Within ten years, he landed the top job.
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Jane writes profiles for MoneyWeek and is city editor of The Week. A former British Society of Magazine Editors editor of the year, she cut her teeth in journalism editing The Daily Telegraph’s Letters page and writing gossip for the London Evening Standard – while contributing to a kaleidoscopic range of business magazines including Personnel Today, Edge, Microscope, Computing, PC Business World, and Business & Finance.
She has edited corporate publications for accountants BDO, business psychologists YSC Consulting, and the law firm Stephenson Harwood – also enjoying a stint as a researcher for the due diligence department of a global risk advisory firm.
Her sole book to date, Stay or Go? (2016), rehearsed the arguments on both sides of the EU referendum.
She lives in north London, has a degree in modern history from Trinity College, Oxford, and is currently learning to play the drums.
-
Shein shifts IPO focus to Hong Kong
The development piles fresh pressure on London’s beleaguered stock market, which many had hoped would be boosted by Shein’s IPO
-
Scientists turn lead into gold – could it wreck the yellow metal's price?
Medieval alchemists have been vindicated after scientists turned lead into gold, but the results aren’t going to crash the gold price any time soon
-
Greg Abel: Warren Buffett’s heir takes the throne
Greg Abel is considered a safe pair of hands as he takes centre stage at Berkshire Hathaway. But he arrives after one of the hardest acts to follow in investment history, Warren Buffett. Can he thrive?
-
Who will be the next Warren Buffett?
Opinion There won’t be another Warren Buffett. Times have changed, and the opportunities are no longer there, says Matthew Lynn.
-
Lorne Michaels: the ringmaster at Saturday Night Live
Lorne Michaels created Saturday Night Live, a cultural phenomenon that launched the careers of countless stars in America.
-
'Rachel Reeves' plan to force pension funds into UK assets won't work'
Opinion Hustling pension fund cash into British assets sounds like a good idea. It would be better to make Britain an attractive place to invest, says Matthew Lynn
-
Elliot Grainge: the music mogul of the TikTok age who will now helm Atlantic Records
Elliot Grainge, the entrepreneur behind the upstart music producer 10K Projects, has taken over the top job at Atlantic Records, the label synonymous with musical greats. Can he transform its prospects?
-
Supersonic travel: How China could 'leapfrog' US and Europe's commercial aviation industry
Opinion Innovation in commercial aviation has been stuck for 60 years. A commercial supersonic jet might be back on the market soon, but will China get there first?
-
How British businesses can tackle Trump's tariffs
The majority of British businesses are likely to take a hit from the chaos caused by Trump’s tariffs to reorder global trade. Companies in the firing line face some difficult decisions, says David Prosser
-
Ben Cohen: The Ben & Jerry’s co-founder who wants to break away from Unilever
Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is seeking to break away from Unilever, the conglomerate he sold out to in 2000. It’s a battle for the soul of the brand synonymous with corporate do-gooding.