‘King of Hollywood’ Bob Iger steps down as Disney’s CEO – here’s how he made and spends his US$690 million fortune

Mar 11 , 2020

Disney’s Bob Iger and Mickey Mouse at Mickey’s 90th Spectacular at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in October 2018. Photo: AFP

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Bob Iger isn’t called the “King of Hollywood” for nothing – but now, the “king” is retiring.

Iger has stepped down as Disney’s CEO after 15 years at the helm, and been replaced by Bob Chapek, formerly the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. Iger has assumed the role of executive chairman, and will help the company transition until the end of his contract on December 31, 2021.

“With the successful launch of Disney’s direct-to-consumer businesses and the integration of 21st Century Fox well underway, I believe this is the optimal time to transition to a new CEO,” Iger said.

Iger started his entertainment career in 1974 as a studio supervisor at ABC and rose through the ranks to become CEO of one of the most powerful businesses in the world. Iger recounted this journey in his memoir The Ride of a Lifetime, released in September 2019, in which he chronicled how he went from making US$150 a week doing “menial labour” on ABC shows to earning over US$60 million a year running The Walt Disney Company.

(From left) Singer Jacky Cheung, Disney’s chief operating officer Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO Michael Eisner and Group managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel Don Robinson at the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland’s Hollywood Hotel in September 2005. Photo: Handout

Since Iger became CEO on October 1, 2005, the company’s stock has risen 492 per cent. But after 45 years in the entertainment industry, Iger has also amassed a sizeable personal fortune.

Forbes reported that Iger has a net worth of US$690 million. Iger was compensated US$65.6 million in 2018 – which Forbes notes is 1,424 times what the average Disney employee makes.

Here’s what we know about Iger’s life and rise.

Bob Iger speaking in New York in October 2019. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

On December 3, 2019, the Television Academy announced that Iger would be inducted into the Hall of Fame the following month. He was also named Time’s business-person of the year for 2019.

“In a year when the tide has shifted against big business, big media and big tech, Iger has transformed his enormous media company into a gargantuan media and tech business while ensuring that Walt Disney’s products remain widely beloved,” Belinda Luscombe wrote in Time’s profile of him. “He’s transformed his company from a stuffy media doyen into a sexy cultural force.”

Iger was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in the small town of Oceanside, New York.