Illustration: Zohar Lazar; Photo Getty Images
While eight men have taken turns guiding The Walt Disney Company over the course of its roughly 100 years of existence, arguably only three have managed to make a real and lasting impact: current CEO Bob Iger, Michael Eisner, and of course, the icon for whom the company is named, Walt Disney himself. All three ruled the Magic Kingdom for at least two decades, oversaw creative and commercial renaissances at the company, and to varying degrees became celebrities in their own right. And yet for all their positive attributes, Disney, Eisner, and Iger had one other thing in common: They were really bad at figuring out who would succeed them as CEO. In the fifth episode of The Disney Dilemma, hosted by Joe Adalian, we explore why it is that Disney’s most successful leaders have done such a bad job making sure the company would be able to survive — and thrive — without them.
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