The Worst Mistakes Bob Chapek Made As Disney CEO
We’ve abruptly come to the end of an era at The Walt Disney Company.
Bob Chapek just got fired, thrown under a bus, driven over, buried, felt people tapdance on his grave, and then salt the Earth so that nothing could grow near his tomb.
As far as character assassinations go, this one was as thorough as it was devastating.
Now, we can only look back and retrace the steps to determine what went wrong.
Here are the worst mistakes Bob Chapek made at Disney.
Photo: Charles Krupa/AP
Breaking with Bob Iger
Let’s start with Chapek’s mortal sin.
In February 2020, Bob Iger suddenly announced his impending retirement. At the time, he immediately ceded his role as Disney CEO to Chapek.
Photo: CNBC
Two weeks later, COVID-19 shut down society for an unknown length of time, forcing most Americans to work from home.
During this unexpected behavioral change, Chapek could have easily worked with Iger to plot the course for Disney’s future.
That’s apparently not what happened. In fact, less than a month later, Iger randomly claimed that he was still running the company.
Chapek bristled at this proclamation and seemed to make a slew of decisions specifically intended to establish his own identity.
Photo: CNBC
Iger hated several of them, particularly the promotion of Kareem Daniel to a role for which he wasn’t groomed.
Daniel, someone with a financial (and engineering) background, suddenly found himself in charge of all Disney creative content. Now, it was Iger’s turn to bristle.
Photo: Disney
In the 18 months that followed, the two Disney leaders watched their relationship deteriorate to the point that Chapek didn’t even sit at Iger’s table at a retirement party.
Later, this schism proved fatal to Chapek’s Disney career. Had he maintained a close relationship with his former boss, Chapek could have called on Iger for help as needed.
Credit: AP
Instead, when Disney’s Board of Directors sought a potential replacement, they already had the ideal candidate available in Iger, who didn’t mind twisting the knife in Chapek’s back.
Promoting Friends
Don’t sleep on this mistake as one of Chapek’s greatest miscalculations.
Photo: Matt Stroshane/Courtesy Disney Parks
By all accounts, Chapek is a pleasant man. However, he isn’t someone who is quick to trust others.
Once Chapek earned his dream job, he promptly promoted many of his closest confidants to positions of power within Disney.
When Chapek led Disney’s theme parks division, he interacted with other professionals like Jeff Vahle, Ken Potrock, and Josh D’Amaro.
Not coincidentally, those three people are now the leaders of Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, and the entire Disney theme parks division.
Moves like these came at a high cost for Chapek, as the perceived yes men couldn’t be honest with their boss about his more questionable decisions.
Credit: @jeffvahle/Instagram
Choosing Money over Fans
Here’s the mistake that bothers park fans the most. Whenever Bob Chapek faced any financial struggle, he had a single go-to move. He raised park prices.
I’m not even joking. Over the past three years, the sheer volume of park increases and cost reductions is almost incomprehensible.
Chapek asked for petty penny-pinching changes like smaller portions at the parks. He also cut corners by ending programs like Magical Express.
Annual Passes, single-day admission, and every form of park ticket in between witnessed a price increase far exceeding inflationary rates.
Photo: Disney
Chapek even made the shocking decision to remove a previously free amenity, the FastPass, and bring it back under a different name, Disney Genie+.
Of course, the new version wasn’t free. In fact, Disney raised the price of Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane multiple times.
Photo: Disney
What’s stunning about this approach – beyond the sheer audacity – is that these products are barely a year old!
If Chapek had continued in the CEO role for another five years, who knows what a Disney Genie+ purchase would have cost?
Photo: Disney
Chapek famously bristled at the notion of being a bean counter. However, actions speak louder than words.
The former CEO cared more about money than fan satisfaction, which is an unforgivable mistake for the leader of Disney.
The Lake Nona Move
Some of the mistakes we’re discussing have never made sense. For example, Chapek seemingly made it his mission to change Disney’s address.
Walt Disney himself moved to California in the 1920s and built his company there. Then, the mogul purchased the land that would eventually turn into Disneyland in 1955.
Image: DesigningDisney.com
Disney is now and always has been a Golden State entity, first and foremost. And Chapek purchased a multi-million-dollar mansion in California after he became CEO.
Why, then, did the CEO systematically destroy Disney’s California roots?
The problems started when the company announced an impending move to Lake Nona, Florida.
At the time, Disney was in good with Florida’s local government. As a result, Disney earned a massive tax incentive to switch coasts.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Lake Nona appeared likely to become Disney’s new base of operations, so much so that Imagineers and other workers lost their jobs.
Disney forced its California employees to commit to moving to Florida to keep their jobs. In the process, Chapek effectively forced out many longtime Imagineers.
We’re talking about multiple generations of irreplaceable knowledge thrown out the door as de facto budget cuts.
Imagineering IS Disney for many people. How in the world could Chapek have been so negligent as to discard all that training for a simple tax break?
Picking a Fight with Scarlett Johansson
Why? Just…why?
When Disney announced its intent to release some big-budget movies on Disney+, its officials should have recognized the flaw here.
Source: bgr.com
Hollywood contracts dictate that stars earn a percentage of a film’s box office receipts.
Actress Scarlett Johansson, a bona fide superstar and box office draw, anticipated a big check for her work on Black Widow. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have taken the gig.
Source: @theblackwidow
When Disney chose a Disney+ release for the title, the first call should have gone to ScarJo and her team.
This call should have indicated that Disney would make the financial difference up to her. It’s Hollywood 101.
Photo: Wikipedia
The fact that neither Chapek nor anyone from his team chose to do this is maddening. Even worse, Chapek arrogantly called her out for wanting her money.
The highly paid CEO felt that she was being greedy at a time when many were suffering due to the pandemic, and his people said as much…publicly.
Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson photographed exclusively for EW on Feb. 21, 2020, in Los Angeles
This inexplicable tactic led to a short but intense feud wherein an MCU icon split from Disney only weeks after announcing that she would create a Tower of Terror movie.
Thankfully, Marvel’s boss, Kevin Feige, helped to soothe the matter privately. Still, this kind of unforced error became a hallmark of Chapek’s career.
Source: Complex.com
Taking a Stand in Florida Far Too Slowly
Here’s an example of how mistakes tend to propagate.
After Chapek made several of the other mistakes discussed here, Disney officials pushed him to hire a public relations expert.
Image Credit: Walt Disney Company
Chapek eventually settled on Geoff Morrell, best known for handling PR for an oil company.
Soon after Morrell’s hiring, the state of Florida legislated the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill that directly impacted many Disney officials.
By most accounts, Chapek wanted to speak up on the matter, but Morrell advised Disney to keep quiet and work behind the scenes to address the issue.
Chapek took this advice and stayed silent, thereby angering the affected workers and countless other fans of Disney.
Credit: Disney
When Chapek finally did say something, his statement came way too late and then had the secondary impact of irritating the lawmakers.
Now, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which dates back to 1965, may end in 2023, specifically due to Chapek’s missteps.
While Chapek fired Morrell after roughly four months, it didn’t matter. Even Iger went on the record to say that Disney should have supported its employees.
To a larger point, the only thing that could potentially save Reedy Creek is that Iger shares a better relationship with and understanding of politicians than Chapek ever did.
Photo Credit: https://www.worldofwalt.com/disney-private-government-disneys-reedy-creek-improvement-district.html
In totality, all these singular mistakes add up to one glaring issue Chapek could never overcome. He didn’t care enough about people and was too fixated on the bottom line.
I’m someone who can honestly say that I like Bob Chapek, but Disney is substantially better off with someone else as CEO.
Feature Image: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Great article
As someone who has visit Disney since 1975
I wish they would cancel any extra ride charges in the parks, it feels cheap and cheesy to me.
If they need more on the admission price I would rather pay it.