Ike Perlmutter, Chairman of Marvel Entertainment, is the latest high-ranking Disney official to be laid off as part of a lengthy series of job cuts that began this week at The Walt Disney Company, according to The New York Times.
What’s Happening:
- Perlmutter was informed by phone on Wednesday that the New York based Marvel Entertainment was redundant and would be folded into larger Disney business units.
- On Wednesday, Disney also laid off Rob Steffens, co-president of Marvel Entertainment, and John Turitzin, chief counsel for the division.
- Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Entertainment, will remain and report to Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios. Previously, Buckley reported both to him and Perlmutter.
- An irascible and unrelenting executive, Perlmutter has been a distraction inside Disney for more than a decade — most recently when he pushed for a friend, the activist investor Nelson Peltz to join the Disney board.
- Perlmutter was behind the game-changing sale of Marvel to Disney in 2009 for $4 billion.
- He had held his position controlling Marvel since the late 1990s, greatly expanding the company’s merchandising business through movie studio licensing deals.
- In recent years, Perlmutter has not been as involved with Marvel, especially the movies, which he has not been involved with since a 2015 feud with Kevin Fiege over costs related to Doctor Strange. Apparently, Perlmutter wanted to fire Fiege, however Iger overruled him to keep Fiege in place.
- By the end, Perlmutter’s job was limited to businesses like comics publishing, which generates $40 million to $60 million in sales annually, according to analysts.
- He was also involved in Marvel game licensing, certain consumer products and superhero arena shows.