Bob Chapek has been named CEO of the Walt Disney Company effectively immediately after longtime CEO Bob Iger stepped down, the company’s Board of Directors announced Tuesday.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to assume the role of CEO of what I truly believe is the greatest company in the world, and to lead our exceptionally talented and dedicated cast members and employees,” Chapek said in a statement.
Iger will assume the role of Executive Chairman and direct the company’s creative endeavors through the end of his contract at the end of 2021.
“With the successful launch of Disney’s direct-to-consumer businesses and the integration of Twenty-First Century Fox well underway, I believe this is the optimal time to transition to a new CEO,” Iger said in a news release. “I have the utmost confidence in Bob and look forward to working closely with him over the next 22 months as he assumes this new role and delves deeper into Disney’s multifaceted global businesses and operations, while I continue to focus on the Company’s creative endeavors.”
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Chapek will be the seventh CEO in Disney’s nearly 100-year history, "and “has proven himself exceptionally qualified to lead the Company into its next century,” Iger said in the news release.
Chapek has 27 years of experience within the Disney company across its parks, consumer products and studio businesses. From 2011 to 2015, Chapek was President of the former Disney Consumer Products segment. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts since 2015 then Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products since the segment’s creation in 2018.