Disney CEO Bob Iger said his company is not interested in sending messages in its movies and TV shows. In an interview with
on Thursday morning, Iger said Disney's No. 1 mission is to capture broad — if increasingly diverse — audiences. 'Infusing messaging is not we’re up to,' he said. 'We need to be entertaining.' Iger was speaking one day after his leadership received a vote of confidence from stakeholders in the face of an aggressive activist shareholder campaign led by billionaire Nelson Peltz, who had taken the company to task for its lackluster stock performance in recent years.
's David Faber that he 'ignore' Musk. Musk's comments 'have no relevance to the Walt Disney Company,' Iger said. The Disney chief executive viewed the episode as little more than a 'distraction' given that the company was already focused on strategic priorities like making the Disney+ streaming platform profitable and nailing down the company's succession plan. Peltz, Iger said, 'didn’t have any new ideas.
interview, Iger said Disney’s streaming business needs to increase user engagement, reduce marketing costs, “program more smartly” outside the U.S. market and crack down on password-sharing, among other initiatives. Separately, the 73-year-old Iger has also faced questions about who will succeed him — especially in light of the failed tenure of Bob Chapek, who Disney named as its CEO in 2020 only to see Iger return two years later.
's Alex Sherman reported that Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, the arm of the company in charge of movies and TV shows, is a strong contender for the top job. She would be the company's first woman CEO and one of the few among America's 50 largest companies. 'She comes from a Hollywood background,' Stutland said. 'That’s what they need to do, is to focus on that.' Iger began his career running errands for productions at ABC.