Sorry, Disney Fans, CEO Bob Chapek Is Getting Three More Years
Whether you love him or hate him, Bob Chapek will continue to be Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Big Cheese. The media giant's board extended Bob Chapek's contract on Tuesday. He will now be CEO through 2025. Support for giving the polarizing helmsman another three years was unanimous in the boardroom.
Chapek's had a rough run since being tapped as the successor to the universally liked Bob Iger on Feb. 25, 2020. Disney shares have gone on to surrender 25% of their value since then, but that can be said about a lot of market bellwethers. He had to hit the ground running, as within a month of his arrival all of Disney's theme parks and most of the world's movie theaters had been shuttered in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
Some of the knocks on Chapek are valid. Some of the social disses are off the mark. Either way, Chapek -- whose initial CEO deal would've ended in February of next year -- is going to be behind the wheel for what promises to be a challenging time for Disney. He'll have to steer the House of Mouse through a potential global recession in fiscal 2023, high expectations for Disney+ to grow its subscribers and achieve profitability in fiscal 2024, and the arrival of major competition in Florida when rival Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) adds Epic Universe to its Universal Orlando resort portfolio in fiscal 2025. In short, he's going to have to his hands full as he proves himself worthy of his extension.
Source Fool.com
