Investors breathed a sigh of relief on Monday following the ouster of Bob Chapek at Disney. Shares jumped by more than five percent after the company said Sunday night that it was bringing back Robert Iger to helm the Mouse House.
Iger will not have an easy time. He built Disney into its current structure with four big acquisitions: Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and the entertainment business of 21st Century Fox. The $71 billion purchase of Fox saddled the company with a debt burden that forced the company to suspend its dividend. It remains an open question whether the current behemoth is actually governable or if it needs to be broken up.
Despite speculation that Iger may have his eyes on Netflix, it is unlikely Iger will be able to start a new age of acquisitions. For one, antitrust regulators are not likely to approve further consolidation in the entertainment sector. For another, high-interest rates likely rule out any further debt issuance to fund a major purchase.
It should not be forgotten that Chapek was handpicked by Iger as his successor. One of Iger’s most important jobs as Disney CEO will be grooming the next chief. Keeping other talented executives on board while selecting one executive as the designated heir may prove extremely challenging. Disney’s rivals will likely look to poach executives alienated by the process. In any case, until Iger spells out what he thinks went wrong with the Chapek pick, there’s little reason to be confident that he can be more successful with the next one.
The internal pressures at Disney to move ever more wokeward will almost certainly not abate. If anything, the toppling of Chapek will likely embolden the far left of Disney. This is a problem for the company because woke politics is undermining the quality of its products and driving away the conservative families Disney needs as customers. It remains to be seen if Iger has the strength of character to push back. He certainly will be tested.
Fed Minutes Wednesday
The Federal Reserve is set to release minutes from its November monetary-policy meeting on Wednesday. Fed watchers will scrutinize the minutes for hints about where the Fed sees its rate target landing next year. Following the November meeting, Powell indicated that Fed officials now see the rate as rising past where they saw it going at the September meeting, when they last released economic projections.
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