Robert Aiger left the post of head of Disney. He led the company for 15 years and made it the largest in Hollywood

On February 25, the Disney Directors Board announced that Robert Aiger, who headed the company since 2005, will leave the post. The position will be occupied by Bob Chapek, who had previously been responsible for this Disney entertainment parks. Aiger will not leave the company - until the end of the contract on December 31, 2021 he will be its executive director. In the statement and in the comments, to reporters, Aiger explained that the decision was not spontaneous - for several months he has planned to leave the post. However, for many, this news became unexpected - immediately after the announcement of the Disney campaign, they fell by three points, after which they began to recover.

According to Aiger, right now - after the successful launch of Disney+ and the largest transaction from the 21st Century Fox - the right time to change the director. In the remaining months, the iiger will put Chapek into the course of business in Disney and will be engaged in the "creative development" of the company. “I am not going to suddenly reduce working hours to three days a week. My new job will be full -fledged, ”he told The New York Times . In addition, the publication writes, until the end of 2021, Aiger will still be headed by the Disney Directors, to which Chapek will be reported.

Aiger has been working in Disney since 1996, in 2000 he changed the previous director of Michael Icener. Under Aiger, the company became the largest in Hollywood and made several key transactions: in 2006, Pixar acquired Pixar for $ 7.4 billion, in 2009 for $ 4 billion, in 2012 for 4.06 billion - Lucasfilm. In 2019, Disney covered the largest deal in the history of Hollywood and acquired the assets of the company Rupert Murdok 21st Century Fox for $ 71.3 billion (later the studio was renamed 20th Century Studios). Finally, one of the important breakthroughs was the launch of Disney+Streaming Service in November 2019, which in 2020 already use 26.5 million subscribers (now the service is available only in the United States, but it will soon start for Europe and India).

“I am firmly confident in Boba and enjoy anticipating the next 22 months of joint work, while he gets used to a new role and get acquainted deeper with multifaceted Disney global businesses, while I will focus on the creative tasks of the company,” Aiger said . Chapek, in turn, said that he would continue the line of the previous leader: "I share his [aiger] desire for creative perfection, technological innovation and international expansion, so I will continue to use this strategy in the future."

Chapek has been working in Disney since 1993. The New York Times writes that at the very beginning of work in Disney he was engaged in the input and withdrawal of cartoons from the market, thereby ensuring the regular sale of DVD and Blu-ray. Then he headed the distribution of Walt Disney Studios, after which he served as president for consumer goods. In recent years, Chapek has been the president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and headed the company responsible for the parks.

Natalia Gredina