The new 'tone deaf' Bob Iger might just be focused on a Disney and Apple M&A

• Fearless Media is a newsletter about the future of entertainment, media, and tech by Creative Media chairman Peter Csathy.
• Disney CEO Bob Iger's comments regarding the strikers may hint at his deeper M&A state of mind.
• Many pundits believe Iger is considering a sale of Disney's TV assets.

The following article was originally published July 28, 2023 on Fearless Media.

For the past decades, Disney CEO Bob Iger has been perhaps the most revered media and entertainment titan, beloved by both employees and Wall Street — a rare feat and balancing act to be sure.

That's what made it so surprising to the creative community when the usually friendly and disciplined Iger, fresh off his private Jet at "summer camp for billionaires" in Sun Valley, chose to castigate writers and actors for their "very disturbing" strike.

"It has been a great business for all of these people," he lectured — apparently expecting Hollywood to be grateful for the industry's tech-fueled, business model changing gyrations that have left less for more.

SAG President Fran Drescher joined voices across entertainment in calling Iger's comments "tone deaf" and rich for someone who reportedly makes more than 500 times the median salary of Disney employees.  

So why the sudden about-face by Mr. Nice to the strike's Dr. Evil?

Call it "The Wall Street" effect, as Iger's comments may simply reflect an M&A state of mind and desire to present the best possible economic case to his Sun Valley audience — other captains of industry and the financial community.

It's no mystery that many pundits (including yours truly) believe Iger is considering a sale of Mouse House assets, and strike-induced uncertainty in underlying business economics — especially if they tilt in favor of talent rather than for his studio — does not help his cause. Big ticket M&A covets business stability uber alles.

Adding credibility to this M&A scenario are Iger's recent comments that linear television "may not be core" to Disney's business, comments he later tried to walk back. Even once sacred cow ESPN is sacred no more. Iger also just pronounced that he would welcome strategic partners.

Further evidence is Iger's return to Disney in the first place just this past November. For a man who had done it all in Disney — transforming the company into a franchise mega-hit machine with Marvel, "Star Wars," Pixar and more — why come back unless you have one more major act in mind, especially if it is a lucrative one?

Iger's schmoozing would be needed to get a deal done

The fact that Disney just re-upped Iger's contract for two more years is utterly consistent with a selling state of mind. Corporate M&A takes several months at best from the time the hunter and hunted say "go," and frequently significantly more — particularly when there is FTC scrutiny (which most certainly would be the case here). Disney's acquisition of Fox's entertainment assets took well over one year from start to finish, and Time Warner's $85 billion sale to AT&T took nearly two.

Apple's Tim Cook — another attendee in Sun Valley's theater — is most assuredly watching this movie. After all, an Apple-Disney pairing makes sense and would be applauded by Wall Street. Both brands scream quality and are amongst the most respected and beloved around the world.

Then consider Apple's Mickey-infused genealogy and the company's shared DNA and overall culture. Steve Jobs created now Disney-fied Pixar and sat on Disney's board until his death. Iger later returned the favor by sitting on Apple's board until 2019. The companies know each other intimately, and that mutual understanding and respect bodes well for a successful post-sale integration and fused company culture, factors necessary for successful M&A.

Apple certainly wouldn't buy all of Disney's assets — take its theme parks, for example — and the Feds wouldn't allow that anyhow. But Iger has walked that M&A tightrope before. He picked up Fox's entertainment assets only, leaving Fox Television to Rupert Murdoch (a curse that continues to haunt all of us). A slimmed down Disney version 2.0 post-sale certainly would also make it easier to manage in a post-Iger world.

Iger is like any other CEO ruled by Wall Street

In an utterly disrupted streaming-first world, now faced with the added 1-2 gut punch of coming industry transforming AI-generated change, selling traditional media assets to maximize shareholder value rather than confronting daunting headwinds and uncertainty makes sense.

It's like that pivotal ending scene in the great film "The Usual Suspects" when Chazz Palminteri sits back, takes in the entire picture of clues on the wall and drops his cup of coffee at his great epiphany. And for Iger, the Keyser Söze in this movie, selling to Apple represents the best-case scenario. 

The writers' and actors' strike, then, disrupts the flow, and an M&A-focused CEO — even if it is Iger — focuses on the art of the deal first and foremost, talent economics be damned. At the end of the day, Iger is like any other CEO ruled by Wall Street and who looks to achieve the best possible shareholder results.

That doesn't bode well for major concessions in the current Hollywood strike maelstrom, at least on Iger's part. This media Big Cheese may be human after all as he prioritizes Disney shareholder interests over the community that creates that shareholder value in the first place.

Peter Csathy is the founder and chairman of Creativie Media and an internationally recognized media, entertainment, and tech expert. Read more in his Substack newsletter, Fearless Media.