Bob Iger is back in the driver’s seat at Disney two months after stepping down as chief executive, according to reports. He told the New York Times: “A crisis of this magnitude, and its impact on Disney, would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob Chapek and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years!”
On April 2nd, Disney started furloughing employees “whose jobs are not necessary at this time,” and with all parks, hotels and shopping districts shuttered, that number is expected to be considerable. Walt Disney in Disney alone furloughed 43,000 employees. In the weeks following his February 25th departure, the House of Mouse lost $500 million+ from closing the parks alone. Big ticket blockbusters like Mulan, Scarlett Johansson‘s Black Widow and Dwayne Johnson‘s Jungle Cruise have also been pushed back from their planned bows during the profitable summer season.
Disney also announced that top execs are taking major pay cuts; Iger is giving up his salary and his nominal successor, Chapek, is taking a 50% cut.