Disney extends Bob Iger’s contract through 2026

With big challenges facing the Walt Disney Co., the board has decided to keep Bob Iger in the top job through December 2026.

When Iger returned to the company last November, he agreed to stay through 2024. But board members this week voted unanimously to extend the chief’s contract by two years, the company said Wednesday in a statement. The extension, according to independent members, will provide “continuity of leadership during the company’s ongoing transformation.”

The additional two years will allow “allow more time to execute a transition plan for CEO succession, which remains a priority for the board,” the company said in a statement. In addition, Iger’s management team also asked him to stick around longer.

Iger has had a full plate since returning to the company. Wall Street has grown sour on streaming companies and Disney — as well as other major entertainment companies — has racked up billions of dollars in losses building their streaming platforms and recruiting customers. Disney is undergoing a major belt-tightening, resulting in the elimination of about 7,000 positions. And the advertising market has been weak.

Writers Guild of America members have been on strike since early May, and Disney and other major studios face the prospect of a walk-out later this week by 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, the performers union. If that happens, it will be the first time since 1960 that the actors and writers unions were simultaneously on strike.

Iger must grapple with all of these issues, including negotiating an exit by Comcast from the Hulu streaming service by early next year. Disney must also decide what to do with its television businesses in India.

And he must select a person most capable of leading the company after he departs.

“Time and again, Bob has shown an unparalleled ability to successfully transform Disney to drive future growth and financial returns, earning him a reputation as one of the world’s best CEOs,” Mark G. Parker, Disney’s board chairman, said in the statement announcing Iger’s extension.

“Bob has once again set Disney on the right strategic path for ongoing value creation, and to ensure the successful completion of this transformation while also allowing ample time to position a new CEO for long-term success, the Board determined it is in the best interest of shareholders to extend his tenure, and he has agreed to our request to remain Chief Executive Officer through the end of 2026,” Parker said.

In the release, Iger acknowledged that he had “more to accomplish.”

“I want to ensure Disney is strongly positioned when my successor takes the helm, I have agreed to the Board’s request to remain CEO for an additional two years,” Iger said in a statement. “The importance of the succession process cannot be overstated, and as the Board continues to evaluate a highly qualified slate of internal and external candidates, I remain intensely focused on a successful transition.”

Iger returned to Disney after serving as CEO and Chairman from 2005 to 2020, then as executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board through 2021.