Disney CEO Bob Chapek Lays Out 2022

Bob Chapek, who is nearing the two-year mark since he took the baton as CEO for the Walt Disney Co., has articulated three key strategic priorities for the company in a memo to employees.To get more latest news on disney, you can visit shine news official website.

Referring to them as “pillars,” Chapek identifies the three areas as storytelling, innovation and a “relentless focus on our audience.”

The exec’s status as Disney’s sole leader was reaffirmed by 2021 officially coming to an end. Predecessor Bob Iger, who had stayed on as executive chairman and a creative consultant, officially ended his tenure on December 31. Several other long-tenured execs have also departed the company. On Wall Street’s checklist for Chapek, the No. 1 item is hitting subscriber projections for Disney+. Those numbers have sagged a bit of late, prompting concerns about its prospects after a white-hot launch in 2019. In November, Disney said it added just 2 million subscribers to its flagship service. It has pledged to reach 230 million to 260 million (from its current level of 118 million) by the end of fiscal 2024.
When Iger stunned the industry and business world by ceding the CEO role to Chapek in February 2020, Covid had just started its disruptive march across the globe. The new boss, who climbed the corporate ladder by running divisions like home entertainment and theme parks, was immediately put to a grueling test, managing through an historic period of uncertainty. All of the company’s core sources of revenue — parks and resorts, movie theaters and live sports, dried up instantly. Chapek won praise for navigating that intense early stretch of the pandemic, and the company’s stock closed that year on a high note, riding a wave of announcements of film and TV titles bound for Disney+.

Last year, however, the weather changed a bit. Reports surfaced (and were roundly denied) of a wary relationship between “Bob C.” and “Bob I.” and an acrimonious legal fight broke out (and was quickly settled) with Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson. Industry vets, while giving Chapek credit for his accomplishments, took note of the rare public battle with an A-list star, maintaining that such contretemps had not generally been Iger’s style. They also raised eyebrows at Chapek’s dramatic centralization of the company’s distribution structure in a new unit run by his former protégé, Kareem Daniel.
Chapek’s contract runs through February 28, 2023. The company plans to report its next quarterly earnings in early February. Along with the changes in the C-suite, Disney’s board of directors has also seen turnover in recent years. Susan Arnold, by far the most experienced director, was elevated to chairman late last year as Iger approached his departure.

As we begin the New Year, I want to share our mission and the strategic pillars that will be key to our success—but first, I want to start 2022 on a note of gratitude for all of you, your talent, dedication, and optimism during the most disruptive time in our company’s history.

Thanks to you, we are weathering the pandemic and emerging stronger than ever. Over the last two years, we continued to tell the world’s best stories, reorganized, and accelerated our transformation to better serve audiences and guests. We looked inward during a time of social disruption, saw how much was left to do, and made significant change. And of course, we underwent a leadership change—and I am enormously grateful for the tremendous foundation Bob Iger left us.

You achieved those things during a once-in-a-century pandemic, and I want to acknowledge those whose roles require them to be in the office or one of our parks, as well as those working from home while managing at-home learning and gaps in childcare. I also appreciate your patience as we begin reopening our offices. Our long-term goal is to provide greater flexibility, and your leaders will be in touch as plans evolve.

It’s ironic that this disruption is happening as we prepare to celebrate our company’s 100th anniversary. For nearly a century, we have defined and redefined entertainment, created countless lifelong memories, and delighted fans and families around the world. It’s a legacy that is simply unrivalled—and a welcome responsibility for us to build upon.

And so I believe our mission for this year is clear: set the stage for our second century, and ensure Disney’s next 100 years are as successful as our first. To do that, we will focus on three pillars.