Bob Iger

He is the oldest son of Miriam "Mimi" (née Tunick) (1927–2013) and Arthur L. Iger (1926–2010).

His father was a World War II Navy veteran who was the executive vice president and general manager of the Greenvale Marketing Corporation, and was also a professor of advertising and public relations.

His mother worked at Boardman Junior High School in Oceanside, New York.

Arthur's father Joe (i.e. Bob's paternal grandfather) was cartoonist Jerry Iger's brother.

Robert Allen Iger (born February 10, 1951) is an American media business executive who serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company.

He was raised in Oceanside, where he attended the Fulton Avenue School and graduated from Oceanside High School in 1969.

Iger began his media career in 1972 as the host of Campus Probe, an Ithaca College television show.

He dreamed of becoming a news anchor while he worked as a weatherman in Ithaca for five months, before shifting his career goals.

In 1973, he graduated magna cum laude from the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Television and Radio.

In 1974, Iger joined the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

His first job was performing menial labor on television sets for $150 a week (over $700, adjusted for inflation).

In 1988, Iger served as the senior program executive for the Calgary Winter Olympics.

The event was marred by disruptive weather and delayed events, and to fill the broadcast schedule Iger's team focused on human interest stories such as those of the Jamaican bobsled team and Eddie the Eagle.

The event achieved record-high ratings for ABC, and Iger's performance under pressure caught the attention of ABC executives Daniel Burke and Thomas Murphy, who subsequently championed Iger throughout his ascent at ABC.

In 1989, he was named head of ABC Entertainment, green lighting shows such as Twin Peaks, America's Funniest Home Videos and Cop Rock.

He served as president of the ABC Network Television Group from January 1993 to 1994, and was appointed as Capital Cities/ABC senior vice president in March 1993 and executive vice president in July 1993.

He previously served as the President of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and as president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996.

In 1994, Iger was named president and chief operating officer of ABC's corporate parent, Capital Cities/ABC.

In 1995, The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC and renamed it ABC, Inc., where Iger remained chairman until 1999.

Disney had been without a separate president since Eisner assumed the role following the departure of Michael Ovitz in 1997, after sixteen months at Disney.

On February 25, 1999, Disney named Iger the president of Walt Disney International, the business unit that oversees Disney's international operations, as well as chairman of the ABC Group, removing him from day-to-day authority at ABC.

Disney called the change a promotion for Iger.

Iger was named president of Disney in 2000 and succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005, until his contract expired in 2020.

He then served as executive chairman until his retirement from the company on December 31, 2021.

After his exit from the company, Iger served, at the company's request, as an advisor to his successor.

Iger was awarded $2 million per year for such advice.

However, at the request of Disney's board of directors, Iger returned to Disney as CEO on November 20, 2022, following the unscheduled and immediate dismissal of his appointed successor, Bob Chapek.

In July 2023, Disney renewed Iger's contract until 2026.

During his initial 15-year stewardship of the company, Iger was able to broaden Disney's roster of intellectual properties, expanded its presence in international markets, and oversaw an increase of the company's market capitalization from $48 billion to $257 billion.

Disney named Iger the president and chief operating officer (COO) on January 24, 2000, making him Disney's No. 2 executive under chairman and CEO, Michael Eisner.

Iger also expanded the company's theme park resorts presence in East Asia, with the introduction of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Shanghai Disney Resort in 2005 and 2016, respectively.

Additionally, he was also the driving force behind the reinvigoration of Walt Disney Animation Studios, the branded-release strategy of its film studio's output, and the company's increased investment in its direct-to-consumer businesses, including Disney+ and Hulu.

Robert Allen Iger was born to a Jewish family in New York City.

In 2005 board members Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold began a campaign called "save Disney" against Eisner.

As a result, Disney began a search for the next CEO to replace Eisner.

On March 13, 2005, Disney announced that Iger would succeed Michael Eisner as CEO, and Iger was placed in charge of day-to-day operations, though Eisner held the title of CEO until he resigned on September 30, 2005.

In July 2005, Disney and Gold dropped the campaign and agreed to work with Iger.

One of Iger's first major decisions as CEO was to reassign Disney's chief strategic officer, Peter Murphy, and disband the company's Strategic Planning division.

It was around this time Iger started to become known as "Bob" rather than "Robert".

He led the major acquisitions of Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion, Marvel Entertainment in 2009 for $4 billion, Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.06 billion, and the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox in 2019 for $71.3 billion.