Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Iger announces first big moves in new tenure as Disney CEO: Restructuring and departure of Chapek right hand Kareem Daniel

9 views
Skip to first unread message

Leroy N. Soetoro

unread,
Nov 27, 2022, 2:10:22 PM11/27/22
to
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/21/kareem-daniel-disney-head-of-media-and-
chapeks-right-hand-is-out-following-igers-return.html

Bob Iger, less than 24 hours after returning to the helm of Disney
, told employees Monday that the company would be undergoing a
restructuring in coming weeks.

One of the first steps, Iger announced, would be the departure of Kareem
Daniel, the company’s head of media and entertainment, and right hand to
now-departed CEO Bob Chapek.

Iger announced Daniel’s departure in a memo to employees of the division,
along with a “new structure that puts more decision-making back in the
hands of our creative teams and rationalizes costs.”

“This will necessitate a reorganization of Disney Media & Entertainment
Distribution. As a result, Kareem Daniel will be leaving the company,”
Iger said in the memo, which was obtained by CNBC.

Iger said top Disney lieutenants, including Dana Walden, head of general
entertainment, Alan Bergman, leader of Disney content studios, ESPN’s
James Pitaro and CFO Christine McCarthy would work together on Disney’s
new structure “that puts more decision-making back in the hands of our
creative teams and rationalizes costs.”

The decision marks the swift undoing of one of Chapek’s primary actions
during his nearly three-year tenure as CEO. Chapek reorganized the company
to establish the DMED division and consolidate budgetary power for
Disney’s content and distribution divisions under Daniel.

“Our goal is to have the new structure in place in the coming months.
Without question, elements of DMED will remain, but I fundamentally
believe that storytelling is what fuels this company, and it belongs at
the center of how we organize our businesses,” Iger said. “This is a
moment of great change and opportunity for our company as we begin our
second century.”

Daniel has close connections with Chapek, who hired Daniel as an intern
when he was working on getting his MBA at Stanford.

The two had worked closely together when Chapek was head of the parks,
experiences and consumer products group, and Daniel was head of the
Imagineering program, Disney’s theme park designers.

Daniel had worked across several of Disney’s divisions during his tenure.
He was vice president of distribution strategy at Walt Disney Studios when
Disney closed its acquisition to buy Marvel Studios for around $4 billion
in 2009. He was also part of the team that purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 for
$4.05 billion.

Marvel and Star Wars would become key pieces of Disney’s strategy,
especially in streaming, in recent years.

Daniel, who was at Disney for more than a decade, rose to his latest perch
as head of media and entertainment when Chapek reorganized Disney in 2020
and the now-former CEO quickly surrounded himself with parks staff and
accelerated the company’s push into streaming.

In his latest role, Daniel oversaw all of Disney’s streaming services,
namely Disney+, as well as domestic television networks and studios.

Shares of Disney rose more than 6% on Monday, the day after Disney
announced the executive shift.

Read Iger’s memo:

Dear DMED Employees,

As we embark on the transformative work that I mentioned to you in my
email last night, I want to begin by offering my sincere appreciation and
gratitude to each and every one of you.

Over the coming weeks, we will begin implementing organizational and
operating changes within the company. It is my intention to restructure
things in a way that honors and respects creativity as the heart and soul
of who we are. As you know, this is a time of enormous change and
challenges in our industry, and our work will also focus on creating a
more efficient and cost-effective structure.

I’ve asked Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, Jimmy Pitaro, and Christine McCarthy
to work together on the design of a new structure that puts more decision-
making back in the hands of our creative teams and rationalizes costs, and
this will necessitate a reorganization of Disney Media & Entertainment
Distribution. As a result, Kareem Daniel will be leaving the company, and
I hope you will all join me in thanking him for his many years of service
to Disney.

Our goal is to have the new structure in place in the coming months.
Without question, elements of DMED will remain, but I fundamentally
believe that storytelling is what fuels this company, and it belongs at
the center of how we organize our businesses.

This is a moment of great change and opportunity for our company as we
begin our second century, and I am so proud to be leading this team again.
I can’t say it enough: I’m incredibly grateful for the tremendous work you
do each day, and for your commitment to maintaining the level of
excellence Disney has always been known for.

I know change can be unsettling, but it is also necessary and even
energizing, and so I ask for your patience as we develop a roadmap for
this restructuring. More information will be shared over the coming weeks.
Until a new structure is put in place, we will continue to operate under
our existing structure. In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful
Thanksgiving holiday, and thank you again for all you do.

Bob

Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect that Bob Chapek was
CEO of Disney for nearly three years. An earlier version misstated his
tenure.


--
"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
recover with no after effects.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
ballots. Report voter fraud: sf.n...@mail.house.gov

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.
0 new messages