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Robert Iger
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Robert A. "Bob" Iger (born February 10 1951) is president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. He was named the company's president in 2000 and became CEO in 2005.
rt Allen Iger was born to Jewish parents Mimi and Arthur Iger of Long Beach, Long Island. His mother worked at Boardman Junior High School in Oceanside, New York and his father was executive vice president and general manager of the Greenvale Marketing Corporation, and a professor of advertising and public relations.
Iger completed his undergraduate studies at Ithaca College where he graduated magna cum laude with a B.S.
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Encyclopedia
Robert A. "Bob" Iger (born February 10 1951) is president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. He was named the company's president in 2000 and became CEO in 2005.
Early life
Robert Allen Iger was born to Jewish parents Mimi and Arthur Iger of Long Beach, Long Island. His mother worked at Boardman Junior High School in Oceanside, New York and his father was executive vice president and general manager of the Greenvale Marketing Corporation, and a professor of advertising and public relations.
Iger completed his undergraduate studies at Ithaca College where he graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in television-radio from Ithaca's Roy H. Park School of Communications. He then began his career as a weatherman for a local television station (). He joined the American Broadcasting Company in 1973 and gradually rose through its ranks. He served as president of the ABC Network Television Group from 1993 to 1994, and then was named president and chief operating officer of ABC's corporate parent, Capital Cities/ABC. In 1996, The Walt Disney Company bought Capital Cities/ABC and renamed it ABC, Inc., where Iger remained president until 1999.
Disney
On February 25, 1999, Disney named Iger president of Walt Disney International, the business unit that oversees Disney's international operations, as well as chairman of the ABC Group. Disney called the change a promotion for Iger. But the company's insistence was initially viewed with skepticism, as some thought Iger was merely being removed from day-to-day authority at ABC since ABC had been struggling ().
Disney named Iger its president and chief operating officer on January 25 2000, making him the company's No. 2 executive under Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner. The company had been without a separate president since Eisner assumed the role following the departure of Michael Ovitz in 1997, after 16 months at Disney.
On March 13, 2005, Disney announced that Iger would succeed Eisner as CEO. On March 26, Iger reassigned Peter Murphy, the company's chief strategic officer, and pledged to disband the company's strategic planning division. Iger also vowed to restore much of the decision-making authority that the division had assumed to the company's individual business units.
The company reconciled with former board members Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold, who in July 2005 dropped their "Save Disney" campaign and agreed to work with Iger. In the process, Roy Disney was named a director emeritus and consultant.
On January 24 2006, Disney announced it would acquire Pixar for US $7.4 billion in an all-stock transaction. The merger installed animator John Lasseter as chief creative officer of the Disney/Pixar animation studios and principal creative adviser for Walt Disney Imagineering, the division that designs theme park attractions. It also made Steve Jobs Disney's top shareholder with 7 percent of outstanding shares, and gave him a new seat on Disney's board of directors.
Roy Disney, who had been critical of Iger for his role as Eisner's deputy, issued this statement: "Animation has always been the heart and soul of the Walt Disney Company and it is wonderful to see Bob Iger and the company embrace that heritage by bringing the outstanding animation talent of the Pixar team back into the fold. This clearly solidifies the Walt Disney Company's position as the dominant leader in motion picture animation and we applaud and support Bob Iger's vision." .
Iger has cited international expansion, technological innovation and a renewed focus on animation as the company's top strategic priorities.
Personal life
- Iger is married to journalist Willow Bay and has four children.
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