Just a year ago, Bob Chapek stepped down as Disney's CEO and was replaced by the former chief executive, Bob Iger. The latter's aim was to fix the company to make it profitable again and now that he has done so successfully, he is moving on to building the company up again.
We Can Expect More from Disney Soon
In the entire year that Bob Iger was at the helm of the company after being reinstated, he spent all his time fixing various parts of the business to keep it from losing revenue. He believes that the time for fixing is done and that "building is a lot more fun than fixing."
The entertainment giant thrived under the leadership of Iger during his previous tenure. One of his biggest achievements was acquiring Pixar and Marvel, which were both entertainment giants as well. However, the chief executive is leaning into a different type of strategy this time around.
Instead of acquiring more studios, Disney will be focusing on creating more platforms, expanding its physical properties, and even rebuilding already established businesses within the company. As for the platforms, Iger along with ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro already has plans in place.
Both intend to create a direct-to-consumer platform no later than 2025. The streaming service will have additional features like advanced statistics and integration with fantasy sports for younger audiences, according to CNBC.
Disney's movie studio business will also be seeing some changes as Iger expressed that it has suffered from making too many movies. Pointing out the importance of movies to the company, he said it impacts the perceptions of investors, audiences, and employees.
The company can expand already established franchises, which Disney has no shortage of, and boost the company's streaming service Disney+. The profits can also help with another one of Bob Iger's plans for "building again."
Aside from making changes in the movie studio business and creating a direct-to-consumer ESPN platform, the chief executive also plans to expand Disney theme parks over the next decade, even allocating a $60 billion budget for the plan.
Costs Disney Had to Pay to be 'Fixed'
The entertainment giant is finally at a point where it can focus on creating rather than mending, but this was done at the cost of many of its employees. At the beginning of Iger's return to the company, he already revealed that he plans to save $5.5 billion across the company.
To do so, one of the first things he did was reduce the cost of spending for various divisions, as well as laying off thousands of employees. The first round of job cuts affected around 7,000 employees, according to The Verge, with thousands more during the second wave.
The latest workforce reduction was back in early June when Pixar let go of 75 employees. The news gathered more attention since one of the employees who were laid off was Galyn Susman, who was famous for saving "Toy Story 2" after the movie was accidentally deleted from the server.
