Posted in: Disney, Disney+, Movies, TV | Tagged: bob iger, disney, espn, ike perlmutter, ron desantis, time100

Disney: Bob Iger on Ike Perlmutter, Ron DeSantis, ESPN/Sports Betting

During his TIME100 interview, Disney CEO Bob Iger discussed Ike Perlmutter, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and ESPN & sports betting.

If you checked out what James McAvoy had to say about Neil Gaiman, then you know that TIME's annual list of influential folks from across all spectrums was released earlier today. And one of the names on that list is The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger. With the TIME100 honor coming at a time when the company is in the midst of some major financial & structural changes, Iger spoke with the news magazine/website on a number of topics. In the following highlights, Iger responds to ex-Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter's claim from earlier this month that he was terminated "as a result of my trying to help Disney improve its business" and for supporting shareholder Nelson Peltz's activist efforts towards the board & the company early in 2023. In addition, Iger shares that he's willing to meet with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis despite DeSantis's efforts to strip away the company's control of its parks locations in retaliation for Disney policies that DeSantis opposes. And then there's the matter of ESPN and sports better – an issue that Iger admits he's "changed" his opinion on when it comes to the sports channel franchise.

Iger on Perlmutter: Stating that "this decision would have been made regardless" of Perlmutter's support of Peltz, Iger reaffirmed that Perlmutter's departure was the result of "creating a more efficient company" and eliminating "redundancy" (with Marvel Entertainment broken up & folded into already-existing departments). "This was a necessary step in the direction of us creating a more efficient company. There was redundancy specific to the way Marvel was being managed," Iger shared.

Iger on Stalemate Between Disney & DeSantis: "I do not view this as a going-to-mattresses situation for us. If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that. You know, I'm one that typically has respected our elected officials and the responsibility that they have, and there would be no reason why I wouldn't do that," Iger shared. As Iger sees it, Disney main goal is to continue to improve the parks & recreation experience for millions in the years to come – and to be able to work with the state to make that happen. "Our sole goal in Florida is to continue creating that value for all those constituencies. All we want is a relationship with the state that enables us to continue to do that," Iger explained. "We have the wherewithal, and we have the desire to continue to invest there to grow that business so that we can hire more people so that we can increase our attendance, and so that we can basically increase more value for the Walt Disney Company and for the state of Florida. It's that simple."

Iger on Being Open to ESPN/Sports Betting: "I was probably on the more conservative side about this for a long time. But I've changed because I think the acceptance of sports betting has grown significantly," Iger shared. As the CEO sees it, there's now a way for the company to maintain its values while still continuing to evolve with the times & with what consumers want. "And my desire is to see that the company continues to serve its consumers well, without us really, I think, distancing ourselves from values, because we're not actually causing the bets to be made. We're just enabling people to link to companies that do that," he added.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!