By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Tom Staggs, the presumed front-runner to replace Bob Iger as CEO of The Walt Disney Co., is leaving the company next month.
The surprise announcement Monday means Disney will have to look further for Iger's successor after he steps down in June 2018, a date the popular chief executive has extended twice.
Staggs, a 26-year Disney veteran and its chief operating officer, had been assumed to be on track for the top job after the next leading candidate, Jay Rasulo, resigned last June as chief financial officer.
Staggs was promoted to COO in February 2015, a promotion taken as a sign that he had won the internal competition to eventually take the Disney reins.
Disney said in a statement Monday that it would "broaden" its search for CEO candidates.
Top executives will go back to reporting to Iger.
Staggs, 55, had been CFO for 12 years since 1998, playing a critical role as Disney made huge acquisitions to bolster its movie studio, including the $7.4 billion purchase of Pixar in 2006 and $4.1 billion purchase of Marvel in 2009.
He led the parks and resorts unit since 2010 in a job swap with Rasulo intended to give each executive the rounded experience required to become CEO.
However, Staggs lacked experience in the TV and film businesses, which face challenges as consumers rapidly adopt new technology and change their viewing habits.
Robin Diedrich, a senior analyst with Edward Jones, said Iger's shoes will be tough to fill. Disney's stock has more than tripled since he took over in 2005 after a raucous shareholder campaign against then-CEO Michael Eisner.
"Disney is a creative company and that's really the driving engine behind their earnings power," she said. "They're also entering a technologically focused decade. They know they need to get that right. That may be what the board is looking for."
Monday's announcement may draw out external candidates. But it also raises the profile of other top internal contenders, such as Kevin Mayer, who became chief strategy officer last June, or John Skipper, the president of ESPN.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More