Disney’s Bob Iger has postponed semi-retirement to retake control of the entertainment group as it braces for changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Iger’s 15-year stint as chief executive was due to come to an end this year, with Bob Chapek, the head of Disney’s theme park business, unveiled as his successor in February.
But Iger, who had already said he would not take his $3m (£2.4m) salary during the pandemic, has decided to remain at the helm to help steer Disney through a period of unprecedented turmoil that is reportedly costing the company $30m a day.
“A crisis of this magnitude, and its impact on Disney, would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob and the company contend with it,” Iger told the New York Times.
Disney has been losing hundreds of millions of dollars in income from its theme parks and cruise liner businesses because of the pandemic.
Analysts have estimated that the company could be facing an 11-million fall in visitor numbers across its theme parks, at a potential cost of $500m. Iger has suggested that visitors could be subjected to temperature checks when the theme parks reopen.
The company has also been forced to postpone film releases after the closure of cinemas in its most lucrative markets.
Disney borrowed $6bn in March to help the company through the pandemic and has said it would furlough more than 70,000 employees from 19 April, including most of the staff at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California.
Reports in the US have suggested some of the cuts could become permanent once the crisis abates and come amid speculation that consumer habits could be altered for good by the pandemic.
The company’s streaming service Disney+, which was launched five months ago, has attracted tens of millions of subscribers during lockdown.
Iger, who was planning to remain executive chairman until the end of 2021, has indicated that Disney could withdraw from more financially risky activity such as TV pilots and move more of its content towards the fast-growing streaming service.
However, he said any decisions on whether the reorganisation would require job losses would be required would be left to his successor.
