How Bob Iger Returned to Disney and Reset the Narrative
The CEO Diary with Fexingo: Leadership Lessons, Executive Decisions, and Corner Office Stories · 2026-06-11 · 10 min
Episode notes
In February 2020, Bob Iger handed the CEO reins at Disney to Bob Chapek. By November 2022, he was back. This episode of The CEO Diary with Fexingo looks at the specific, high-stakes moment when Disney's board asked Iger to return, why they did it, and what he did differently in his first 90 days. We walk through the strategic reset — re-centering creative control, restructuring streaming profitability, and the public price of a succession failure. Lucas and Luna discuss what Iger's return tells us about corporate governance, founder-like leadership, and whether a second act can ever really fix the problems of the first. Specific numbers discussed: the 344-day timeline between Chapek's firing and Iger's reappointment, the $1.5 billion in cost cuts announced in early 2023, and how Disney+ subscriber growth shifted from a volume story to a margin story. #BobIger #Disney #CEOReturn #Leadership #SuccessionPlanning #CorporateGovernance #DisneyPlus #StreamingWars #CreativeControl #CostCuts #BusinessStrategy #BoardroomDecisions #Turnaround #MediaIndustry #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #TheCEODiary Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo