A discussion on Midnight’s Edge made its way over to Bounding into Comics. A Bounding into Comics article made its way to Timcast. So what really is going on at Disney?
The change in leadership at The Walt Disney Company after former CEO Bob Chapek was ousted for former CEO Bob Iger has sent shockwaves through the industry. Chapek had been renewed as CEO six-months ahead of schedule with full approval of the board in late June. One hum-ho quarterly earnings report later, he was sent packing with a golden parachute that would feel like a lottery win to most families. So what in the world happened?
Reporting out of The Wall Street Journal has shed some light on the situation. Their article shows that it was Christine McCarthy, Chief Financial Officer for Disney, who was orchestrating action behind the scenes… including discussion with investors and a subsequent statement of “no confidence” in Chapek which she provided to the Board. It must have been a flurry of activity because McCarthy had just been placed on a three-person committee with Chapek only eight days before. The committee was set to determine the cuts that would take place at the company and demonstrate almost certainly the full confidence that Chapek had placed in her.
Here’s the timeline:
Nov 8 – Earnings Call
Nov 9 – Leaked internal memo on cuts
Nov 9 – Chapek, McCarthy, Gutierrez form panel (Board Approval)
Eight days follow:
Following days – McCarthy chats with investors per WSJ
Days after – McCarthy gives a vote of no confidence to Board
Days after – Legal and financial team assembled
Nov 18 – Board asks Iger to replace Chapek
It really brings into question what Christine McCarthy knew about efforts to oust Chapek and whether or not she knew at the time of the earnings report. If she did, she may have been misleading in not providing accurate information as to what was about to happen with Disney. That’s a big “if” though and certainly is speculation at this point.
Here’s the clip from Timcast discussing what WDW Pro, Valliant Renegade, André, Tom Connors and others on Midnight’s Edge had to say. Shout out to “Mexican Ironman” and Paulie Latino for providing the media:
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts.
