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    COO Tom Staggs To Exit Disney, Sparking Speculation Regarding Bob Iger’s Successor In 2018

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2917 Views
    In this July 9, 2013, file photo, Disney's Tom Staggs talks with reporters after arriving at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

    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.

    Category:News
    Tags:Bob IgerDisneyTom Staggs



    A Closer Look At Proposed Measures Designed To Curb Google’s Search Monopoly

    Thursday, November 21, 2024

    U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly for the last decade.

    The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice could radically alter Google's business, including possibly spinning off the Chrome web browser and syndicating its search data to competitors. Even if the courts adopt the blueprint, Google isn't likely to make any significant changes until 2026 at the earliest, because of the legal system's slow-moving wheels.

    Here's what it all means:

    What is the Justice Department's goal?
    Federal prosecutors are cracking down on Google in a case originally filed during near the end of then-President Donald Trump's first term. Officials say the main goal of these proposals is to get Google to stop leveraging its dominant search engine to illegally squelch competition and stifle innovation.

    "The playing field is not level because of Google's conduct, and Google's quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired," the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. "The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages."

    Not surprisingly, Google sees things much differently. The Justice Department's "wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision," Kent Walker, Google's chief legal officer, asserted in a blog post. "It would break a range of Google products — even beyond search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives."

    It's still possible that the Justice Department could ease off on its attempts to break up Google, especially if President-elect Donald Trump... Read More

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