Bob Iger is expected to retire at the end of his current contract in the middle of 2016. However, Buzz Feed is now reporting that he may be staying beyond that. It was originally announced that Bob Iger would end his tenure in 2015 but stay Chairman through 2016. The thought was that this would allow for a seamless transition. This reasoning was also used to justify the combining of the CEO and Chairman roles which is critique by the corporate governance community which in turn almost caused a proxy access vote before Disney reached an agreement with the proposals proponents. BuzzFeed spoke with several insiders about the possibility of Bob Iger extending his contract:
“Iger could certainly extend his contract again,” said a source familiar with the company who talked about the Disney CEO on the condition of anonymity. “He will leave before it is too late, but that could well be sometime past 2016.”
A second source close to the company who also asked not to be named talking about Iger publicly put it more bluntly: “He’s not going to retire when he says he is going to retire.”
A Disney representative did not return multiple calls and emails for comment.
Bob Iger’s tenure at Disney has been considered a success by most in the entertainment and business communities. Any news that Bob is extending his time at Disney would have a positive effect on Disney’s stock price.