Disney World celebrates its 50th anniversary in April 2022.
Aaronp/bauer-griffin | Gc images | Getty Images
Shares of Disney appeared Monday, the morning after the company announced it had replaced CEO Bob Chapek with Bob Iger.
Disney shares were up more than 6% on Monday morning. As of Friday’s close, the company’s shares had fallen about 40% so far this year.
Capek, who succeeded Iger as CEO in early 2020, has come under increasing criticism and scrutiny over the company’s performance in recent months. Its most recent quarterly earnings report, which came out earlier this month, arrived with a bang, sending the company’s stock sharply lower. Three days after that report, Chapek told his lieutenants in a memo that Disney would try to cut costs through hiring freezes, layoffs and other means.
Still, the decision to replace Čapek with Iger stunned the business world. Iger, who spent 15 years as Disney chief, previously said he would not return to work until the company renewed Chapek’s contract earlier this year as he pushed for his vision for reorganizing Disney.
Capek took over just before the Covid pandemic severely hampered Disney’s business, closing theme parks and not releasing movies in theaters for months. While Chapek helped the company weather that storm, with Iger still as chairman until last December, the company’s stock rose to just over $200 at one point in 2021.
Since then, Disney’s stock has plummeted. They closed below $100 on Friday.
During Chapek’s tenure, as of Friday, Disney shares had fallen 28%, while the Dow had climbed 25% and the S&P 500 was up 27%. This year, Disney is among the three worst performers in the Dow, along with Intel and Salesforce.
— CNBC’s Robert Humm contributed to this article.