WEBVTT - Bob Iger 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:03.920 This is Bloomberg Best. Bloomberg Best is about the insight 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:06.480 and the context that we get from our guests. It's 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:07.880 a great way to catch up on some of the 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.520 stories you might have missed on the Bloomberg stories you're 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:14.600 not going to find in any other news organizations. Bloomberg 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.440 Best Bloomberg's Best stories of the week, powered by twenty 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:21.320 seven hundred journalists and ennalysts in more than a hundred 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.760 twenty countries around the world. I'm at Baxter and I'm 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:28.880 Denise PELIGRENI on this weekend edition of Bloomberg Best. You know, 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.440 I wanted to make sure I was there for him, 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:34.880 to help him through what is obviously particularly challenging time. 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.040 Bob Iger on handing over the range during a pandemic. 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.120 Get a job on camera, work your way up from there, 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.760 all the way to you have possibly becoming a network 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:47.120 acorn Al, the Walt Disney executive's career began as on 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.240 air talent. I gave it some serious thought. Actually, post 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:53.520 the election of Donald Trump, I gave it a lot 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:57.400 of thought and Iger for president. All this and more 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:02.560 coming up in the next hour of Bloomberg Best. All right, 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.479 and if there's anybody associated with Walt Disney besides Walt 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.280 Disney himself and of course Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Well, 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.560 that person is Bob Biker, Yeah, Denis, and you know 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.360 he's still executive chairman at the company now. We had 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:17.600 a chance to hear from him in depth on the 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:21.480 David Rubinstein Show Peer to Peer Conversations, and Ker talks 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.120 about how hard it's been to separate himself from Disneys, 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:29.440 his role changes, and also about his political ambitions. David 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.959 begins here by asking ire about his long and successful 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.800 run of the world's most well known media giant. During 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.600 the time that you were the CEO. The stock market 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:45.759 value of the company went up about and the market 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:49.520 capitalization about four during that fifteen year period of time. 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:51.840 So my big regret is that I didn't vacue and 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:54.920 by stock. But um, you must be very pleased with 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:56.880 what you accomplished in the fifteen years that you were 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.320 in the CEO. Yes, I'm proud would probably be the 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:03.680 right word to use. You know, I inherited a company 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.880 that was renowned and had been quite successful, but also 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:12.240 had gone through a period of difficulty on a variety 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.400 of levels, and there was a lot of work to do. Um, 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:20.960 and my soul goal was to not only improve a 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:24.080 lot of the company, but to ultimately leave the company 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.120 in great hands for my successor. But you weren't as 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.600 successful in leaving the company because you had wanted to 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.120 leave a few years earlier. And then the they, the board, 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.840 said no, you gotta stay longer because you did the uh, 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.079 the Fox acquisition, among other things. So, um, why were 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.000 you so good at running the company but not so 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.000 good at leaving the company? You know? I'm told that 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:48.200 that's a common ailment of CEOs that have had decent 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.920 tenure uh. And I So I failed leaving a few times. 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.600 The first time we had had a succession process that 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.280 didn't work out as we had hoped, and so I 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:00.639 agreed to stay on a little bit long. And then 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.480 the last time was solely due to the largest acquisition 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:06.600 that we had ever made, and that was most of 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.280 the assets of Century Fox. And I knew when I 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:14.480 proposed doing that to the board, which was close to 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:18.280 when I was supposed to step down, that they would say, well, 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:21.680 we will support you in this effort as long as 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:23.640 you agreed to stay. They did not want, and for 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:26.760 good reason, to go through a CEO transition just at 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.760 the time we were making the biggest acquisition we've ever made. 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.320 It was rumored in the press and in your book 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:35.040 that you were thinking of leaving Disney to run for 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.440 president of the United States. So whoever heard of a 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.440 businessman running for president United States? So where did you 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:46.120 get that idea? From? Crazy idea? Right? Um? Well, there 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:49.640 was some truth to that, um, both before the sixteen 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:53.640 election and then after the sixteen election. I gave it 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:57.440 some serious thought. Actually, post the election of Donald Trump, 0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.600 I gave it a lot of thought and actually did 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.680 a fair out of homework to study the feasibility of it. 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:04.960 But I'm not sure I would have gotten as far 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:09.440 as actually running, because as the realist in me was 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.640 sinking in, I was starting to think more and more 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:16.800 about how difficult the path might be in the Democratic 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.440 Party for a businessman to actually get the nomination. What 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:22.640 would you say, is the chance that you would be 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:26.200 interested in serving in a senior position in a Biden administration? 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.240 Would that be something of any interest to you? Or 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:30.480 you wouldn't want to come to Washington for that kind 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.600 of thing. Well, I've always thought about what the next 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:37.240 chapter in my life might be post Disney, because there 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.840 will be a post Disney soon. I'm not going to fail. 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:45.480 Stepping down again, uh and giving back in some fashion, 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.040 serving our country in some fashion is certainly something that 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.160 I would consider seriously. But a lot of it would 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.000 depend on, you know, what it is, what the opportunity is, 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.680 and whether I thought it would be something that I 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:00.520 would both be stimulated by and and and be good at. 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:04.120 So let's go back to the Disney situation. Uh, you 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:06.600 announced that you're gonna step down finally at the end 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:11.400 of two thousand nine become executive chair and then COVID 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:15.240 hit comes along, and did COVID make it possible for 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.160 you to leave as the same way you thought you 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:18.279 were gonna be out to leave, or do do you have 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.720 to spend more time at at Disney when COVID hit, Well, 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:25.080 what actually happened was I stepped down, uh from the 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:28.880 CEO position as you mentioned, to become executive chairman and 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.240 to focus all of my time and energy on our 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:36.360 creative process because I thought, obviously what we create is 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:39.200 the most valuable product that we have, and I thought 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.720 that the best thing I could do in terms of 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.240 um enabling my successor to succeed at the job would 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:49.080 hind him a very very rich pipeline of great creativity. 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:51.800 Uh And and in fact, I have spent almost all 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:54.119 of my time since I stepped into this role doing 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:58.960 just that. Um. However, I also wanted to make sure 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:02.600 he was success full in in other respects as well. 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.120 And he had not handled a crisis that was anything 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.520 like this, by the way, No, nor had I, and 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.520 so UM I you know, I wanted to make sure 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:14.719 I was there for him to help him through what 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.960 is obviously particularly challenging time, not only for the world, 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:21.880 but very specifically for our company. And I've done just that. 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.920 So he's been the CEO, he's been running the company 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.840 from the day he stepped into that role. UM. I 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.359 feel confident that he is doing a good job, and 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.360 we'll do a good job into the future. And I've 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.120 probably been there for them a little bit more than 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.200 I might have expected. I think one of the hardest 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:42.320 things is in in uh, passing the baton on to 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:44.719 someone else. You know, you expect that you're going to 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:48.640 spend some in in in a situation where I was 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.200 going to continue as an employee and executive of the company, 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.599 I expected I would spend more time with him, meaning 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.680 being more physically present as an advisor and as a 0:06:56.720 --> 0:07:00.120 support for him. That obviously has has not happened. Been 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:02.320 a little bit more challenging. So if somebody was an 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:05.560 outsider and they'd say, well, COVID is hitting the United States, 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.200 hitting other places, the kind of companies that aren't going 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.520 to do well. Our companies, that say, are in the 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:14.760 theme park business, the live entertainment business, the cruise ship business, 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:17.800 the hotel business, um, and those are all the businesses 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:20.320 that you're in. Yet your stock has really rallied and 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.239 and done reasonably well. Why do you think you haven't 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.480 been as hard hit and financially as you might think 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.880 on from the outside. I think the reason our our 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.560 stock has been resilient and the company has been resilient 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.080 is we were on extremely solid footing as a company 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.960 going into this, meaning our businesses were all doing well 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.000 and their prospects for the future were actually quite bright. 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.920 And so I think the street has looked at us 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:51.760 UM knowing that we've been affected in dramatic fashion by COVID, 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.840 but also realizing that when it ends, we will have 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.640 the ability to rebound in a significant way. In addition 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.480 to that, we had pivoted in a very significant way 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:07.000 in the direct to consumer digital entertainment direction, meaning we 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:11.920 launched Disney plus, ESPN Plus and in the acquisition of 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:15.480 One Century Fox for a controlling share of Hulu. So 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:19.000 we moved into a space that is not only very 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:23.160 exciting and in many respects the future of entertainment, but 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:28.440 one that invests the investment community is looking at very positively. 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:32.320 So how did a nice Jewish boy from New York 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.760 wind up running Disney? Let's go through that. You grew 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.040 up in the New York area, Is that right? Yes, 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:39.880 it is kind of by the way, it's a pinch, 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:43.880 pinch yourself moment. And I grew up in a relatively 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:48.360 modest background, lower middle class. My dad was a well 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.360 educated man the advertising business, but he suffered from terrible 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:54.160 manic depression and it made it very difficult for him 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.960 to hold a job. My mother became an employee at 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.360 a high school library junior high school live Rurry later 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.920 on in my in my childhood, to help, you know, 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.600 support our family. But it was modest back room. But 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.800 I but I loved. I never felt poor and I 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:13.480 never felt deprived. Of anything, including love. By the way, 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.080 my family, your parents didn't say you need to be 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.600 a lawyer or a doctor or something like that. They 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:20.560 didn't say that to you. There was a little bit 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:22.360 of a push for me to be a doctor because 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:25.240 my mother's oldest brother was. But no, my my father 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:28.120 and my mom were pretty good at letting me pursue 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:30.959 whatever my dreams were. And my dreams early on were 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.560 to become Walter Cronkite or a television news anchor person. 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:39.240 I actually became a weatherman when I left Ithaca College 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.000 for a local TV station there, and that was sort 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.439 of the start. Get a job on camera and then 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:47.760 hopefully work up work your way up from there all 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:50.880 the way to you know, possibly becoming a network anchor man. Well, 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:54.080 that didn't happen. I lost confidence in myself and my 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.720 ability to actually fulfill that dream, and so I pivoted 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:00.640 and took a job behind the scenes in reduction at 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:04.640 ABC in um the middle of nineteen seventy four. So 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:06.640 if you ever thought you could have been outroker if 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.800 you were really good at being a weatherman, that's true. Yeah, 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.000 So you know, I I teased every once in a while, 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.320 I'll go into one of our TV stations or visit 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:16.880 Good Morning America, And I warned them that, you know, 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.679 my next job maybe there's and I may, you know, 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.000 I may become the weather person on Good Morning America. 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.760 So initially you were doing some production at ABC and 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.200 so forth, but eventually went into the sports area. So 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.480 did you think your career was going to be basically 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:33.480 one day running ABC Sports and that would be the 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.120 highest that you would have rise to. That would have 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.199 been fine with me. And actually there are a number 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:40.840 of steps along the way that if I had achieved them, 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:43.040 you know, would have been absolutely fine with that being 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:46.640 kind of the last job. Um, yes, I would have 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.120 loved to have been president of ABC Sports. Interestingly enough, 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:53.360 I never got that opportunity. The people who had purchased 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:58.320 ABC from Capital Cities Communication, Tom Murphy and Dan Burke, 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.120 actually took me out of that role and sent me 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:04.320 out to l A to run the entertainment division of 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:08.240 ABC or primetime programming, which is a huge step for 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:11.560 me into a an area of the business that I 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.000 had very little familiarity with. But they believed in me 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:17.720 and gave me that shot. So when you you're doing 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.400 very well out there, then ABC says, you're doing so well, 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:21.880 we want you to come back to New York and 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:25.040 kind of help run the whole company. Um, did you 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:26.760 want to go back to New York? At that point 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.080 I did. I was ready. I had done my four 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:31.560 and a half year stint at ABC Entertainment. I liked 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:33.560 l A, but I was ready to go back to 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:35.360 New York. And they offered me the job to be 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:39.240 president of ABC, the ABC network. Now you're the big shot. 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:41.360 You are going to be. You're running the whole company. 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.640 And then all of a sudden, Cap Cities people say, 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.920 guess what, We're gonna sell the company to Disney. So 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.000 was that something you were happy with or did you 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:50.800 think there was a role for you? Then? Well, it 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:54.640 was an incredible time. It was the summer of and UM. 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.040 I had been told by Tom Murphy, who was in 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:59.880 the chairman, that um, it was likely I had become 0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:02.560 the next CEO. I was CEO, which I thought it 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.280 was great. Warren Buffett, by the way, was our largest shareholder, 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.000 and I thought he had some enough faith in me. 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:13.480 But Michael Eisner approached us and made an offer that 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:15.719 not only we felt we couldn't refuse, but we thought 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:17.400 it was in the best interest to the shareholders of 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.160 the company. Turns out we were right. And look, in 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.080 the back of my mind, even though Michael made it 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.120 very very clear that they were never going to be 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.560 a guarantee, I thought, if I played my cards right, 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.640 if I performed well, I could potentially run the Walt 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:36.560 Disney Company something at some point. So eventually, Um, Michael 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.240 Eisner decides to retire a little earlier than maybe he 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.640 had thought he was going to retire. The board says, 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.239 we have to go look for somebody to run the company. 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:46.080 Did they just call you up the next day and 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.280 say it's your job or did you have to kind 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.720 of go through a little beauty contest. Yeah, a little 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:53.880 beauty contest would be an understatement. We as I mentioned 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.440 at the beginning of this discussion, we had gone through 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.960 a tough period of time, um, and the board fell 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.120 that and rightfully so looking back, that they had to 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.720 be expensive in their thinking about who the next CEO 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.720 should be, and and they created a you know, a 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:13.760 true contest. They considered a number of outside candidates, They 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.200 interviewed outside candidates. They said to me that I was 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.320 the only inside candidate. But They made pretty clear at 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.600 the beginning that not only was it not a guarantee, 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:24.840 but it was less likely that I would get it 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.880 because I had been CEO for five years and they 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:32.440 they they seemed intent on bringing change to the company 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:35.600 because they felt it was needed. UM. And so as 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:39.080 the insider, I actually had the outside track, not the 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.280 inside track. So eventually they call you up and say 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.440 the job is yours. And subsequently, as I mentioned the outset, 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.959 your stock is up about four plus percent and market 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:52.000 capps about four plus percent. Did anybody ever call you 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:54.120 up and say, hey, we made the right decision. We're 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.280 sorry we made you go through that process. Did anybody 0:13:56.280 --> 0:14:00.200 do that? No one said that we're sorry we to 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.920 go through the process. Um. They on a number of 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:09.360 occasions board members were very generous in their compliments of 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.880 me and to me about the job that I was doing. 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:15.480 I think, you know, looking back, I think they thought 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:18.680 they made they made the right decision. And look, I 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.280 think that the numbers speak for themselves. And the position 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:25.760 of the company today is um, you know, far different 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.960 than it was back then. UM. And you know a 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:30.800 lot of that was due to strategy that was laid 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.960 out even in the succession process because I discussed some 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:36.680 of the things I wanted to accomplish, uh and being 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:40.040 able to execute that strategy over the years. In your book, 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.720 you point to four acquisitions you made. Let me try 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:44.400 to go through each of them with you. One of 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:48.520 the first ones was pixar UM. You Disney had a 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:53.080 complicated relationship with pixar UM. How did you convince Steve 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.200 Jobs to sell you Pixar And was that an easy 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.080 decision to convince the board to buy Pixar and what 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:01.280 was thought to be a pretty high price. Yeah, we 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.720 paid over seven billion dollars for Pixar, And it was 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:07.480 an idea that I had, uh right right away. In fact, 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.160 I laid that idea on the table to the board 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.640 in my first meeting at CEO with a company which 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.240 I'm not sure it's the right way to start, UM, 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.120 but we had gone through a period of time where 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:21.480 Disney Animation had been faltering UM almost a decade and 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:25.240 we had a very good um. Uh. We had had 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:27.720 a lot of success with Pixar and what was basically 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:31.160 a joint venture with them that was ending and Steve Jobs, 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:35.280 you know, in a very very um difficult and kind 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:39.160 of in your face manner. UH told us publicly, meaning 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:43.280 he made announcement publicly that the Pixar relationship with Disney 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.880 would end. I felt that I had to address UH 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:50.320 Disney Animation that it needed it needed a huge improvement, 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.000 and I thought the fastest way to accomplish that, albeit 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:56.160 the riskiest and the most expensive, was to buy Pisar, 0:15:56.720 --> 0:15:58.320 not only to bring pis Are in as part of 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:01.160 the company, but bring the executives that would created all 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.800 the successive Pixar and have them turned Disney Animation around. 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.240 And that was my pitch to the board, and it 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:11.640 took UM on the board side. It took from October 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.520 to January January to convince them it was the right thing, 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.560 and a lot of UM. I used up all the 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.880 capital I had, and I didn't have much because I 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.960 was a brand new CEO UM. But I also was 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:27.280 able to convince Steve Jobs that it was a good idea. 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.280 When the notion of buying pis Are came to me, 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:32.920 I called him up. I was actually quite nervous. I 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:34.800 got him on the phone and I said, I've got 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.560 a crazy idea. Can I come up and talk to 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:39.440 you about Because I didn't think I should broach the 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.800 subject on the phone. Well, I don't know how well 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.640 you knew Steve, but anyone who knew Steve would know 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:47.640 that if you said to Steve, I have a crazy idea, 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:49.960 he would have to hear it right away. So the 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.240 notion that I would say that to him and then say, 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.280 but I'll come up and talk to you, it was ridiculous. 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:56.920 And he made me tell him on the phone, like 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.280 in the minute, what I had in mind. What was 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.640 my crazy I deal? He said, well, it's not that crazy. Um, 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:04.080 why don't we Why don't you come up and we'll 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.480 talk about it. And that led to a very very 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.440 interesting discussion with him on the subject us buying Pixar 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:15.200 and Steve becoming the largest shareholder of the Walt Disney Company, 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:18.359 a member of our board and a true friend of mine. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.960 That was just a simple result of that process. Right 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.080 before the Disney board is about to approve the acquisition, 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:27.480 he tells you something about his health, that he has 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.080 his cancer, and returned, so did you ever think about 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:33.680 changing the they proceeded proceeding to go forward the deal 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.080 or not. Actually, we were on the Pixar campus basically 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:39.199 preparing for the announcement which Steve and I were going 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:42.000 to make, and he said, can we go for a walk. 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:43.920 And he told me that he was going to tell 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:46.480 me something that only his wife and his doctors knew, 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:48.680 and that was that the cancer that he had had 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.920 a few years earlier that he was operated on, had 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.840 come back in a different form, and he wanted me 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:56.640 to know it because he wanted me to He wanted 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:58.359 to give me a chance to back out of the deal. 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:00.520 At that point, I looked at my watch and it 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.320 was incredible. It was thirty minutes before we were announcing 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.760 a seven plus billion dollar deal that everybody that needed 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:10.399 to approve it had approved. UM and I. It's not 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.520 like I had an opportunity to phone anybody and ask 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:17.639 for their advice, because he demanded confidentiality. UM and I 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.639 made a decision kind of on the spot, which is 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.440 that we were buying Pixar, that while Steve was important 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:25.920 in the acquisition because he would become a board member 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:28.840 and a shareholder, he was not material to the Pixar 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.720 deal itself. And therefore I thought that I was exercising 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.240 the right set of responsibilities as the CEO of the company, 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:41.080 and and and in asking shareholders ultimately to approve a 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:45.560 large acquisition. And so while if we went to make 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:51.480 the announcement with me carrying that incredibly heavy news inside me, 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.080 and it was a secret actually that held for a 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.639 few years that the world didn't know. Um. And that 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.119 was in early two thousand and six, and he lived 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:06.399 until October of two thousand eleven. So I had the 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.920 benefit of not only his friendship and his advice in 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.520 his position on the board, but you know of of 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:16.000 the of the wisdom that Steve Job brought to any room, 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:20.760 any situation, wisdom and an incredible talent and instinct. How 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:24.479 Disney has a lot of characters, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:27.000 Mini Mouse, so forth. Why did you need to go 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:31.040 by the characters from Marvel Entertainment? Um, that's was your 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:35.240 next big acquisition, another comic book series of characters. Why 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:37.280 did you feel that was such an important deal? In 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.440 two thousand and five, when I became CEO, we were 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:45.399 starting to see the very very a huge amount of 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.520 disruption to our business. And one of the things that 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:51.200 mostly thanks to technology, and one of the things that 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:56.000 new technology was bringing was an explosion of of what 0:19:56.080 --> 0:20:00.439 was being produced of creativity, uh, and consumer choice in 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:04.040 the in the entertainment field, and I thought that with 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:09.840 so much more consumer choice UM, that high quality branded 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:13.840 entertainment would be even more valuable. So after the Pixar 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:19.560 acquisition was successful, we created a list of acquisition targets 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.000 at Disney and they all were consistent with what I 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:24.280 just laid out. We were looking for high quality branded 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.320 entertainment and Marvel and Star Wars were at the top 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:29.720 of the list. So you then went to talk to 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.960 George Lucas and said, by the way, UM, I'd like 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:36.399 to buy your company and we will make Star Wars 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:38.679 in the future, and you can watch the movie, but 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:40.720 we're gonna make it. Was that hard for him to 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:44.320 give up the the create creative control of Star Wars. 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.040 It was, but again, you know, we saw in Star 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:50.919 Wars something that was extraordinary, like Marvel and like Pixar 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.760 and like Disney, as I talked earlier, and the difference 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.000 being that George was the creator of it and the 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.080 soul shareholder of it, and it was really who he was. 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:03.040 And I think he explained to me at some point 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:06.160