The Walt Disney Company’s board of directors announced Tuesday that Robert Iger has stepped down from his position as Disney CEO and will be replaced by Bob Chapek, who most recently served as chairman of Disney parks, experiences and products.
Iger will now assume the role of executive chairman “while leading the Board and providing the full benefit of his experience, leadership and guidance to ensure a smooth and successful transition through the end of his contract on December 31, 2021.
He shares his commitment to creative excellence, technological innovation and international expansion, and I will continue to embrace these same strategic pillars going forward.
Iger has built Disney into the most admired and successful media and entertainment company, and I have been lucky to enjoy a front-row seat as a member of his leadership team.
Iger acknowledged his resignation from the CEO position: “With the successful launch of Disney’s direct-to-consumer businesses and the integration of Twenty-First Century Fox well underway, I believe this is the optimal time to transition to a new CEO.
In his new role, Chapek will be responsible for overseeing the company’s “business segments and corporate functions.”
Earlier, former Walt Disney Company Vice President, Michael Laney was sentenced to nearly 7 years in prison for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl following a child abuse investigation.
According to court documents, Laney, 73, began abusing the victim in 2009, when she was about 7-years-old, and there were multiple incidents of abuse spanning about two years.
Judge Benjamin Souede had previously acquitted Laney of three counts of first-degree rape and three counts of first-degree sex abuse, bit now Laney will serve 81 months for four counts of first-degree child sexual abuse.
One of the world’s leading entertainment companies, the Walt Disney Company, has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that it routinely pays its male employees more than females.
The lawsuit was brought by the San Francisco based firm Andrus Anderson on behalf of two women and seeks to represent all female employees of California’s Walt Disney Studios since 2015.
Disney’s policies have a discriminatory effect on women, including how salaries are set for new hires, and accuses the company of failing to ensure women are paid the same as men for the same job.
USA Today / ABC Flash Point News 2020.
Should be living behind bars?
Either for self protecting or for protecting the public?