Bob Iger Extends Contract as Disney CEO Through 2026

The Walt Disney Company has announced that Bob Iger will be extending his contract as CEO through the end of 2026, after signing a two-year deal at the end of 2022 that would have forced him to pick a successor within the next few months so that they would take over by the end of 2024.



The Board voted unanimously this week to extend Iger's current deal until December 31, 2026, which will give him extra time to implement the cost-cutting policies that have defined his second tenure as CEO. As of the posting of this article, Iger is also deep into negotiating, along with other studios part of the AMPTP, with SAG-AFTRA for a new deal with the actors and avert a strike that would completely paralyze the industry. News came out earlier this week that Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav, and Netflix's Ted Sarandos met via conference call on Monday to discuss the urgency of the matter and take immediate action. Of course, signing a new deal isn't entirely up to Iger, but it would be a catastrophe for Hollywood as it would completely halt any development of movies at any stage of production, and push everything back for as long as the shutdown lasts.



Announcing Iger's contract extension was perhaps not the ideal PR move this very week for that matter (we'll see how the situation eventually concludes, as the deadline for a new deal to be signed expires at midnight, July 12), but it was something that was being cooked up. Fox Business reported just last week that Iger would be seeking a new extension, and sure enough, the voting wouldn't come long after. The executive returned to the company in November of last year after the Board ousted former CEO Bob Chapek, who was reportedly very disliked within the company.



Besides dealing with the various shutdowns happening industry-wide because of the strike(s), Iger's priorities lie in getting the Walt Disney Company back on its feet after a disastrous last few years where they miscalculated the complete 180 shift to streaming. The Disney Plus bubble seems to be about to burst, and the company has started to realize over the past few months that the ultimate source of revenue for them is delivering quality theatrical entertainment. In 2023 alone they've delivered two three box office disappointments with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and The Little Mermaid (the last one may eventually break even but it will certainly not make the figures the company was once hoping for). Part of the reason for that is overblown budgets, namely in the case of Dial of Destiny, an issue that is also affecting streaming.







As far as Star Wars goes, Bob Iger has guaranteed a commitment to return to theaters, and just last month they announced they would be releasing two feature films in 2026. We know that one of them will be the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy-directed film about Rey rebuilding the Jedi Order, which should go into production by the beginning of next year. On the Disney Plus side, they have three live-action series in post-production -- Ahsoka is set for a two-episode debut on August 23 (it just dropped its latest trailer this week), while Skeleton Crew would be targeting a late 2023 release and The Acolyte is coming at some point in 2024. Andor season 2 continues to shoot in the UK.



Mark G. Parker, Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, celebrated the announcement with the following statement:

Added Bob Iger:

Another of Iger's priorities is to pick a successor. This would have been his main priority after coming back, considering it was one of the few big failures he had during his first tenure, but after he returned he found the company in ruins. It would sound plausible that he asked for more time to put it back together, and later pick a successor, as it would have been a massive undertaking for him to do in two years. Not to mention that a successor would have typically been chosen a year or so before they were to take over.



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