Iger says he won’t sell Disney to Apple in his first town hall after CEO shake-up
In this file photo, Steve Jobs. Disney CEO Bob Iger. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
Disney CEO Bob Iger said he will not sell Disney to Apple in his first town hall after the CEO shake-up, according to a transcript of the session he held with employees on Monday.
In a statement, Iger said he felt he had to do something to try to get the company back on track. Iger said he told Apple CEO Tim Cook — who is a Disney board member — that he would be “unavailable” to meet with the company in his first meeting after the change in leadership.
Iger said he is looking to hire a new CEO — but he didn’t specify his pick.
“Our job is to do better, but this company has been doing better for quite some time,” Iger said.
Iger told employees that he has “a lot of ideas” that he hopes will work for the company.
“I’ll put a lot of work in,” he said. “We’re going to make amazing products. We’ve got to make amazing products. This is not going to stop us.”
Some of Iger’s comments Monday were in response to questions from employees that they were expecting. Iger said the company always has a plan that he will share with employees later this week.
The change in leadership at Disney comes after an announcement last Friday that Walt Disney Co. would be selling itself to a larger media company for $71 billion. The company said it “couldn’t be more excited” about the opportunity and that it would work with the new media company to ensure a smooth transition.
Disney CEO Bob Iger says he won’t sell Disney to Apple in his first town hall after CEO shake-up
The statement came after the Disney stock market posted a 1.8% rise on Friday in after-hours trading, marking a year-end jump of 4.2%.
Iger said he believes Disney can work with the new owner.
After Disney announced it was considering a sale, Iger said he met with Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“He asked me to come back to his office (and) he