Chapek will assume additional responsibility for all of Disney's consumer products operations globallyGETTY IMAGES
Disney announced a "sweeping restructuring aimed at accelerating its global expansion during a period of upheaval for Hollywood," according to Miller & Cosgrove of the L.A. TIMES. The company said that it would "combine its international media business and its content streaming operation into one unit and create another division to house its consumer products business along with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts." The move -- Disney's "biggest restructuring in recent years -- is the latest effort by a legacy entertainment and media company to adapt to rapid changes in consumer behavior driven by digital technology." Disney's new Direct-To-Consumer & Int'l unit will "include the upcoming ESPN+ streaming service, which launches later this year." KEVIN MAYER, Disney's Chief Strategy Officer since '15, was named Chair of the new global business. Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Chair BOB CHAPEK will "assume additional responsibility for all of Disney's consumer products operations globally, including licensing and Disney stores." In the restructuring plan, effective immediately, Mayer and Chapek are "poised to work more closely" with Disney Chair & CEO BOB IGER for the "remainder of his tenure." Their promotions come "amid much speculation about who will be chosen as Iger's successor" (L.A. TIMES, 3/15).
WHO'S UP NEXT? The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Ben Fritz in a front-page piece notes Disney's moves come a week after the company named former consumer products head JIMMY PITARO ESPN President, further "raising the profile of a third fast-rising executive." Sources "consider him another possible future CEO, but a longer shot." Chapek, 58, and Mayer, 55, have "both worked at Disney for more than 20 years," while Pitaro, 48, joined in '10. Mayer was "intimately involved in the Fox deal and the purchase" of BAMTech. Mayer's background in deal-making and digital savvy could make him "well positioned to lead Disney in the new businesses it will need to conquer to maintain its dominant position in entertainment in the next decade" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/15).
