PayPal and Shopify See Big Business in Returns. Merchants Want to Fix the Problem ThemselvesRead More

Bob Iger. Photo by Bloomberg.

Iger’s Disney Fix-It Plan Has Something for Everyone

Photo: Bob Iger. Photo by Bloomberg.

Bob Iger really should have run for president, as he once considered doing. His political instinct is unmatched, at least among CEOs. On Wednesday, in his first quarterly earnings call since returning to the top job at Disney, Iger offered something for everyone. A return of the dividend! Layoffs! Creative executives get their power back! Traditional TV is still important, Iger reminded everyone, but streaming is the future! He didn’t say anything about cutting taxes, but you get the picture. If this was an election—which, given activist investor Nelson Peltz’s proxy challenge, it is, kind of—you wouldn’t bet against Iger.

There’s more doubt, though, about whether Iger can succeed in his core challenge—making streaming profitable enough to offset what Disney (like other TV companies) is losing from the decline of old-fashioned TV. The good news is that Iger, unlike some of his counterparts, made it clear in his comments that he understands how streaming empowers consumers, ensuring that we’re not returning to the glory days of traditional TV. That means he stands a better chance of long-term success than, say, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, whose clear preference for traditional TV suggests he still thinks we’re living in the ’90s. (For more details on Disney’s earnings, see here.)

Get access to exclusive coverage
Read deeply reported stories from the largest newsroom in tech.
Latest Articles
 
Opinion startups
Don’t Build the Wrong Kind of AI Business
Art by Clark Miller.
At a catch-up coffee a few weeks ago, a founder friend asked me, “What AI thing should we build?” It was the third time that week a founder had asked me the same question. Generative artificial intelligence is 99% of the buzz in Silicon Valley right now. In just the last few weeks, Open AI released GPT-4, its most advanced language model to date; Google announced AI for the...
Latest Briefs
 
Sam Bankman-Fried Charged With Paying $40 Million to Bribe Chinese Official
Amazon Opens ‘Sidewalk’ Wireless Network to Outside Developers
Meta to Lower Bonus Payments, Add More Reviews
Stay in the know
Receive a summary of the day's top tech news—distilled into one email.
Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Tonal’s now-shuttered Palo Alto, Calif. retail store. Photo by Getty.
Exclusive startups
Tonal’s Valuation May Fall 90% in ‘Cram-Down’ Financing
Tonal, a fitness startup with a cadre of celebrity backers, is crunched for cash after failing to find a buyer.
Bill Gurley in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive
Good Eggs Cuts Its Valuation 94% in Lifeline Financing as More Startups Get Desperate
As more startups struggle to raise money from venture capitalists and approach bankruptcy, they are going to extreme lengths to stay afloat.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last August. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive startups electric vehicles
SpaceX Plans New Funding With Backing From Saudi, UAE Investors
A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s investment fund and an Abu Dhabi investment firm are planning to invest in a multibillion-dollar funding round for SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, according to people familiar with the investor discussions.
Block chairman and co founder Jack Dorsey. Photo by Getty
markets
Fintech’s Big Wakeup Call
Fintechs were supposed to transform banking by making it dead simple for users to open savings accounts or pay their bills.
Art by Clark Miller.
Market Research e-commerce culture
The Skin-Tech Devices Helping Execs Beautify in a Hurry
I’m always 29 at heart,” said Liyia Wu, CEO of ShopShops, a livestream shopping app for fashion, beauty and lifestyle products.
Art by Clark Miller
Surreal Estate real estate
Silicon Valley’s Realtors, Like Its Bankers, Are Having a Tough Month
In early March, Ken DeLeon, founder of DeLeon Realty, a Silicon Valley–based brokerage that sold more than $1 billion in homes in 2021, called one of his venture capitalist clients to discuss the purchase of a $20 million–plus megamansion.