Disney COO Thomas Staggs Steps Down

[rteetz]

I think it would be a loss to the studios if Lasseter became CEO; however, I think it could be a boon for the company in general. I am torn. Mainly, because I don't know if there is anyone that could replace him at the studios. I think he is the type of person they need in charge of everything though.

Yep.

 

[SJMajor67]

Interesting list of candidates listed here...

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/t...ney-sheryl-sandberg-peter-chernin-1201745286/

 

[lockedoutlogic]

On wdwmagic some have said they want Lasseter but I would much rather him stay in charge of the studios. He's doing just fine there.

Nope...he doesn't have boardroom type chops either.

The future of Disney is heading towards parks and content utilization on digital platforms...he's not the guy either.

 

[rteetz]

Interesting list of candidates listed here...

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/t...ney-sheryl-sandberg-peter-chernin-1201745286/

Not bad but I don't want katzenburg not do I see that happening. As we stated before laseter won't likely move either. I think the only possible candidate from that list is Sandberg.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I agree. John needs to stay where he is. Lots of hits coming out of the animation studios lately as well.

Movies are 15% of the pie...

To recap: it's 40% tv (espn...which is dying)
30% parks (and rising...see above)

Lasseter is not a businessman...he's an animator.

They need both or a collection of that and more.

 

[tstidm1]

I get a feeling that it's going to be someone to Ike Perlmutter's (head of Marvel Entertainment division) liking. He's a major shareholder and wants costs cut frequently. I wonder if it will be someone from the Tech side of the business world. The biggest challenge ESPN faces is cord cutting and who better to help them improve the digital future than say a former head of Facebook. They need an innovative spirit for the next COO becoming CEO.

 

[rteetz]

Movies are 15% of the pie...

To recap: it's 40% tv (espn...which is dying)
30% parks (and rising...see above)

Lasseter is not a businessman...he's an animator.

They need both or a collection of that and more.

I agree that's why he needs to stay where he is. Whoever they choose could be fantastic or could be a disaster.

 

[rteetz]

I get a feeling that it's going to be someone to Ike Perlmutter's (head of Marvel Entertainment division) liking. He's a major shareholder and wants costs cut frequently. I wonder if it will be someone from the Tech side of the business world. They need an innovative spirit for the next COO becoming CEO.

Someone mentioned Ike on Wdwmagic but I'm not so sure. His say in Marvel decreases when They restructured so Kevin Feige reports directly to Alan Horn instead is Ike. Ike wasn't working as that middle man.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Interesting list of candidates listed here...

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/t...ney-sheryl-sandberg-peter-chernin-1201745286/

This article is silly...

Rasulo? LES MOONVES?!??

he's legally dead...

And I love when an analyst says "for the first time in memory...they're going outside"

It was 1984, you dip...and they needed it.

In Fact...they needed it in 2004 too...because with all big, shortsighted business the internal suits believe their own BS and the tree needs to be refreshed.

 

[luisov]

Lol why would anyone appoint Katzenberg? Dreamworks is not exactly having record profits right now. Let him run the company and come up with a bad excuse when it underperforms.

I can totally see it "the new generations don't like Disney like they used to"

 

[andyman8]

It was 1984, you dip...and they needed it.

Although I agree with the sentiment of your post, keep in mind that the installation of Eisner was incredibly unusual circumstances. He was not appointed as much as installed after threats of a corporate takeover and a series of ultimatums more or less. If that's one of the few times in recent memory that Disney looked outside the company, I think that speaks to how rarely they do it. Keep in mind, in the corporate world, it is very frequent that execs come into top positions from the outside. That said, I'd take that list with a grain of salt.

As for Lasseter, I'll put myself in the minority of Disney fans in saying appointing him would be a terrible move. He has been responsible for the revival of WDAS and building its momentum. More to the point, while he has many talented number twos below him, there's no real succession plan in place, and the since the studio is just gaining momentum (at least that's how they see it internally), it would be detrimental to take him off. Plus, John is a creative, and not to say that one can't be a creative and a business-type (but it rarely happens; one every few generations may come along; even Walt wasn't a business-type), but he has never been interested in the business side of the job, and in the COO role, it would be all business. I mean this is a guy who farmed out all the business management of Pixar to Steve Jobs then to Bob Iger and TWDC. If he took on that role, it is likely it would be years until he directed his next film if he ever could again. Quite frankly, he's too busy with Toy Story 4 and some other projects to take on the role of COO. Plus, my understanding is he doesn't do well with the idea of compromise, and that's a big part of business obviously.

Now, if you'd excuse me, I've got to get back to continuously refreshing disneyjobs.com. Hopefully, they'll have the Chief Operating Officer position posted by tonight, because I've got my resume updated and ready.

 

[PBB]

President Obama will be available in 2017! Obama goes to Hollywood all the time and he visits Hawaii quite often as well. Emerging markets ? Disneyland Teheran or Disneyland Guantanamo? Obama knows resort life and golf courses......Let me be clear.......April Fools Day was three days ago......

 

[lockedoutlogic]

President Obama will be available in 2017! Obama goes to Hollywood all the time and he visits Hawaii quite often as well. Emerging markets ? Disneyland Teheran or Disneyland Guantanamo? Obama knows resort life and golf courses......Let me be clear.......April Fools Day was three days ago......

I'd be all for an ex-president...

As long as it was one of the brighter ones

So carter and HW are too old...Clinton seems busy...

...
.......

Yep - has to be Obama then

 

[soniam]

This article is silly...

Rasulo? LES MOONVES?!??

he's legally dead...

And I love when an analyst says "for the first time in memory...they're going outside"

It was 1984, you dip...and they needed it.

In Fact...they needed it in 2004 too...because with all big, shortsighted business the internal suits believe their own BS and the tree needs to be refreshed.

It might be the "first time in memory" for most analysts. They seem to have the memory capacity of a pea and a brain of the same size No, I'm not bitter high-tech employee who thinks most analysts can't figure out how to turn off their phones.

 

[aprincessatlast]

Whoever it ends up being is going to have a lot of "image" repair to do before too long. With comments all over the internet like Disney being called the Walmart of the entertainment business is just not good for the company. People are taking notice of what Disney is doing. Turning a blind eye to it will not help at all or will just be a huge mess for a the next CEO to clean up. I remember a time not too long (what 5 years?) ago they actually cared about what info got out, but now they seem to think it does not matter. Time will tell if they are right but my my take is they are fools if they think walmart image is nothing to worry about.

 

[Planogirl]

I'd be all for an ex-president...

As long as it was one of the brighter ones

So carter and HW are too old...Clinton seems busy...

...
.......

Yep - has to be Obama then

What about candidates? Trump will hopefully be available and there's Jeb.

The greatest irony would be Katzenberg. But life is never that much fun.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Ok this is what I've heard. The board wasn't going to give the CEO job to Staggs so the writing was on the wall. The board will likely go outside for a new CEO and the only internal candidate is Kathleen Kennedy.

What about Lassiter?

 

[yitbos96bb]

I posted briefly in the podcast forum but I'm going to go into a bit more detail here.

First of all, the initial reports seem to suggest that Mr. Staggs was looking for a formal commitment to be CEO, and given some of his fumbles in the last couple years (MM+, SDR, etc...), the Board was not fully comfortable with making that promise. Without that commitment, it seems Staggs walked. I had heard from a few sources a while back that while Staggs was very popular within the company, he did have a few enemies on the Board, but at the time, I didn't think much of it, for most high-ranking execs tend to, but perhaps those enemies were stronger than I thought. Anyways, I'm not assigning all the blame of SDR to him, keeping in mind that the project (despite him serving as the P&R chair) wasn't entirely orchestrated by him. Plus, I'm still not sure why the Disney fan community has married this idea that it's going to be an utter failure. Opening day tix sold out within hours. Despite the many problems and overruns with the project, I think this will be a success.

Also, it's moments like these that make me laugh a bit. It seems that the Disney fan community deems every CEO and exec at the Walt Disney Co. that didn't have the last name Disney to be terrible and it's a great day when they leave, and surely, they'll replacement will be much better. I mean Eisner was absolutely HATED by Disney fans in the late 90s/2000s, yet many of those same people today herald him as a savWell, while Mr. Staggs wasn't flawless and certainly had drawbacks, I honestly do think he had a creative vision for the company and wanted to accomplish that regardless, even willing to go over budget which definitely didn't help his case to be the next CEO. In this case, I think it's a classic "better the devil you know than the devil you don't." In terms of replacements, the only name I've heard floated around was (and I think this is very strange and am rather suspicious of this) Kathleen Kennedy of Lucasfilm. That said, my guess is (as the press has reported) they look for someone from outside of the company.

None the less, a very surprising series of events today. Iger will be around for a long time.

On the bright side Rasulo left too so no worry about him taking over.

 

[CJLove79]

Let's be real here everybody, no matter who they choose to replace Iger, his shadow will forever be there cause his impact on the company has been almost astronomical. I think instead of trying to find somebody to "replace" him, they should find someone who can simply continue the foundation he laid out as well as make their OWN footprints in the company. Iger isn't getting any younger and as cool of a CEO he is and was, I'm sure he'll start to grow tired of the grind after a couple years, he's human. At the end of the day, as long as their CEO choice doesn't do anything that's detrimental to us the fans, the company will be just fine going forward.

 

[jpeden]

Tom Staggs will resign as COO of the Walt Disney Company effective May 6, 2016. He will stay on through the end of Disney's Fiscal Year as a Special Advisor to CEO Bob Iger.