Robert Alan "Bob" Chapek is an American media executive and businessman, who became the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company on February 25, 2020, up until his firing on November 20, 2022. Picked by then-CEO Bob Iger as his successor, he had already been involved with their Home Entertainment division for 26 years, and served as the Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products from 2015 to 2020. Following his firing, he was succeeded by a returning Bob Iger.
Robert Chapek was born on August 21, 1960 in Hammond, Indiana to a working mother and World War II veteran father. Because both of his parents worked full-time, Chapek described himself as a "latch-key kid" at a time when this was uncommon and said that watching both of his parents do their jobs instilled an ethic in him to work harder for the nicer things in life. Additionally, his family visiting Walt Disney World on annual trips made a permanent impact on Chapek by inspiring and influencing him to work for Disney.
After graduating from Clark High School in 1977, Chapek later went on to get his bachelor's degree in microbiology at Indiana University Bloomington and his Master of Business Administration Degree at Michigan State University.
Career[]
Chapek's career at The Walt Disney Company began in 1993 as the marketing director for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (then named Buena Vista Home Entertainment), which at that point was still very much focused on VHS tapes. Then-CEO Michael Eisner described Chapek by saying, "He was always an executive that you knew would be on the rise... He knew how to grow the business while adjusting to the changing marketplace, which was intense." Chapek is credited for bringing Disney's home entertainment division into the digital age, by focusing on releasing properties on DVD and later Blu-ray discs. As a result, he was promoted in July 2006 to become the president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment, which included all home video, DVD, and Blu-ray releases for all of the various division.
On February 23, 2015, Chapek was named chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts effective that day to replace Thomas O. Staggs, who was promoted to Disney Company Chief operating officer earlier in the month. Chapek immediately began working towards the completion and launch of Shanghai Disneyland in 2016, which hosted over 11 million guests in its first year of operation. He also oversaw the completion and launch of Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom in 2017. Chapek also directly managed the construction and opening of the new Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Chapek said of Galaxy's Edge, "It's the most immersive land we have ever built," citing the themed restaurants, shops, and roaming interactive characters. Disney reportedly spent $1 billion on the sprawling 14-acre land in Disneyland in Anaheim, prompting CNN to comment that "Disney spared no expense."
As Chairman of Parks and Resorts, Chapek invested over $24 billion into the theme parks, attractions, hotels, and cruise ships, which was more money than Disney spent in acquiring Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm combined. In the fall of 2017, after parks and resorts recorded at 14% increase in operating income, many in the media began to speculate that Chapek would likely succeed Bob Iger as the next Disney CEO. In February 2020, this speculation would become reality when Chapek was named chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company and replaced Bob Iger, who would remain as Executive Chairman until 2021. However, it was later revealed that Iger had resumed control of the company's operational duties while Chapek remained CEO for the time being, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite early speculation, Chapek chose not to take over the position of chairman of the board from Bob Iger upon the latter's resignation, and has instead left the door open for new chairwoman Susan Arnold, who has succeeded Iger as of December 31, 2021; a decision largely welcomed by fans. His board seat was renewed in the shareholders meeting on March 9, 2022.
Chapek was the Disney CEO taking over for Bob Iger that previously served from 2011 to 2019. Iger was promoted as executive chairman of board of directors. Throughout his tenure as both chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and CEO of Disney, Chapek garnered widespread criticism for many reasons, including (but not limited to) the following:
An overt focus on Disney+ at the expense of other parts of the company, up to and including shutting down over 100 Disney Channels internationally, even in countries where Disney+ was not yet available
Overhauling attractions to tie in with current properties as a form of aggressive marketing at the expense of thematic cohesion
Greatly slashing the budget on Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge despite claiming that Disney "spared no expense" in order to use the land to aggressively market Star Wars merchandise
Reinstituting deferred maintenance in the parks and allowing standards to slip (which caused many to compare him to Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harris, both of whom had done the same to Disneyland in the 1990s and early 2000s)
Extreme ticket price hikes at theme parks.
Firing Disney General Entertainment Content chairman Peter Rice, a well-respected executive both inside and outside Disney, and kept Disney's workforce motivated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Denying Scarlett Johansson residuals she was promised for Black Widow by releasing the film on both Disney+ and in theaters, prompting a lawsuit from Johansson against the company, which lead to the contracts for all Marvel actors were being "reset".
Dismissing animation, a medium on which Disney was built, as cheap entertainment for children that adults had zero care for
An open letter from a Pixar employee in the midst of Chapek's initially tepid response to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill revealed that, despite boasting a "long history" of LGBT advocacy, Disney had been blocking depictions of same-sex affection at Pixar for years.[1] Similarly, crewmembers of the film Nimona shared that Disney leadership was concerned about a same-sex kiss in the film. As a result, the team removed the scene from presentations to the Disney company, though ultimately hoped to include it in the final film.[2] Nimona was cancelled by Disney in 2021 when the company shuttered Blue Sky studios, citing economic hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
His initial silence on Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill, which sparked widespread condemnation within the company; Chapek issued an internal memo apologizing, but not only was it considered weak, it was used by Florida governor Ron DeSantis to launch a personal war against Disney (specifically targeting the Reedy Creek Improvement District) to punish them for speaking out against the bill, as well as to portray himself as fighting a "woke" company in hopes of building support for a presidential campaign in 2024 (DeSantis dropped out of the race on January 21, 2024)
The controversy surrounding Bob Chapek's tenure at the company, plus dismal fourth-quarter earnings led the board to remove Chapek from his position in a move comparable to the Save Disney movement under Michael Eisner. On November 20, 2022, it was announced that Chapek's employment had been terminated, and Bob Iger would be returning to his position as CEO. At two years, Chapek's tenure as CEO was the shortest in Disney history.
References[]
↑Disney Censors Same-Sex Affection in Pixar Films, Say Employees (variety.com)
↑Disney Disapproved of Same-Sex Kiss in 'Nimona' Movie: Former Staffers (businessinsider.com)
↑Disney Closing Down Blue Sky Studios, Creators Of 'Ice Age' (deadline.com)
