Most people look at Disney today and see a juggernaut that owns basically everything you loved as a kid. But honestly, if you look back at the early 2000s, the company was a mess. It was a civil war. When Bob Iger become CEO of Disney before 2010—specifically in 2005—he wasn't exactly the hero everyone was cheering for. He was the insider. The safe bet. The guy who had been standing right next to Michael Eisner while the ship was taking on water.
He had to fix a broken relationship with Steve Jobs. He had to stop a literal family revolt led by Roy E. Disney. And he had to do it all while people were calling for his head before he even sat in the big chair.
The Mess Bob Iger Inherited in 2005
Before we get into how Iger took over, you have to understand how toxic things had become. Michael Eisner had run Disney for two decades. In the beginning, he was a genius. He saved the studio. But by 2004, the vibe had soured. He was feuding with everyone. He fought with Jeffrey Katzenberg (who left to start DreamWorks), he fought with the board, and most importantly, he fought with Steve Jobs.
At the time, Pixar was Disney’s life support. Disney’s internal animation was struggling—remember Home on the Range? Exactly. Pixar was churning out Toy Story and Finding Nemo, and they were doing it under a distribution deal that was about to expire. Jobs basically told Eisner to kick rocks. He was ready to walk away and take the future of animation with him.
Then you had the "Save Disney" campaign. Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew, was publicly trashing the leadership. It wasn't just corporate boardroom talk; it was a nasty, public divorce. At the 2004 annual meeting in Philadelphia, 43% of shareholders withheld their votes for Eisner. That’s unheard of. It was a vote of no confidence that signaled the end of an era.
When the search for a new CEO started, Iger was the Chief Operating Officer. Many saw him as "Eisner Lite." The board interviewed external candidates like eBay’s Meg Whitman, but Iger did something smart. He didn't try to distance himself from the past in a way that felt fake. Instead, he focused on a three-pronged strategy: high-quality creative content, international expansion, and embracing technology. He sold a vision of a Disney that wasn't afraid of the future.
👉 See also: E-commerce Meaning: It Is Way More Than Just Buying Stuff on Amazon
Repairing the Pixar Bridge
The moment Iger took the job in October 2005, his first priority was Steve Jobs. Seriously. He knew that without Pixar, Disney Animation was dead in the water.
Iger’s approach was totally different from Eisner’s. Eisner was a micromanager; Iger was a collaborator. He called Jobs just to say he liked his products. He reached out to talk about putting Disney shows on the new video iPod. This wasn't just corporate sycophancy. It was a strategic olive branch.
By early 2006, the world was stunned. Disney announced it was buying Pixar for $7.4 billion. People thought he was crazy. They said he paid too much. But Iger saw it as a talent acquisition as much as a brand acquisition. He didn't just want the characters; he wanted John Lasseter and Ed Catmull to run Disney’s own animation department.
This move changed the trajectory of the company forever. It proved that Iger wasn't just a "suit." He understood that in entertainment, the "creative" has to come first. If the stories suck, the theme parks eventually empty out. It's a simple logic, but one that many CEOs forget when they're staring at spreadsheets.
Changing the Culture from the Inside Out
One of the biggest things Iger did before 2010 was dismantle the Strategic Planning department. This sounds like boring business jargon, but it was huge. Under Eisner, "Strat Plan" was a centralized group that had to approve every single tiny decision across the whole company. It slowed everything down. It killed creativity.
✨ Don't miss: Shangri-La Asia Interim Report 2024 PDF: What Most People Get Wrong
Iger killed it.
He gave power back to the heads of the individual business units. He told them, "You're in charge of your own destiny." This shifted the energy from fear-based compliance to innovation. You started to see it in the parks and the films.
It wasn't all sunshine, though. There were plenty of skeptics. Iger had to navigate the financial crisis of 2008, which hit theme park attendance hard. People weren't exactly lining up to spend thousands on a vacation when their 401ks were cratering. But he stayed the course. He kept investing in the long game.
The 2009 Marvel Gamble
If Pixar was the first pillar, the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009 was the second. This was another moment where people doubted him. Critics said Marvel was "too boy-centric" or that it didn't fit the Disney brand.
Iger disagreed. He saw a library of 5,000 characters that could be monetized across movies, TV, toys, and theme parks. He paid $4 billion for it. Think about that. $4 billion for the foundation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In hindsight, it's one of the greatest steals in business history.
🔗 Read more: Private Credit News Today: Why the Golden Age is Getting a Reality Check
He didn't try to "Disney-fy" Marvel. He let them keep their office in Manhattan. He let them keep their culture. This became the Iger playbook: buy a great brand, keep the people who made it great, and give them the resources to go even bigger.
Why This Era Still Matters Today
When you look at the current state of the industry, the foundations Iger laid before 2010 are still the things holding the house together. His focus on "franchise" over "one-off" films redefined how Hollywood works.
Some argue he paved the way for the current "sequel-itis" we see in theaters. That’s a fair critique. By focusing so heavily on established IPs like Pixar and Marvel, did Disney lose its ability to create something truly new from scratch? Maybe. But from a business perspective, he turned a struggling legacy brand into a global superpower.
He also pushed for Disney to get into China, a move that culminated in the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort years later. He was thinking decades ahead while his predecessors were often just thinking about the next quarterly earnings call.
It's easy to forget how close Disney came to falling apart. If Iger hadn't won over Steve Jobs, if he hadn't gutted the stifling corporate bureaucracy, or if he hadn't seen the potential in a bunch of comic book characters, Disney might have ended up like some of the other legacy studios—sold off piece by piece or fading into irrelevance.
Actionable Takeaways for Business Leaders
If you're looking at Iger’s early years for lessons, here’s what actually translates to the real world:
- Priority 1: Fix the Relationships. Iger didn't focus on the contracts first; he focused on the people. Whether it was the Disney family or Steve Jobs, he knew he couldn't move forward until the bridge was rebuilt.
- Decentralize Power. If your team feels like they have to ask permission to breathe, they won't innovate. Get rid of the "gatekeepers" and empower the people actually doing the work.
- Bet on Talent, Not Just Assets. When Disney bought Pixar, they weren't just buying Toy Story. They were buying the leadership of Catmull and Lasseter. Don't acquire a company and then fire the brains behind it.
- Identify Your Three Pillars. Iger didn't have a 50-point plan. He had three things: Quality, Tech, International. If a project didn't fit one of those, it wasn't a priority. Simplify your strategy so everyone knows what the win looks like.
The era of 2005 to 2009 wasn't just about Bob Iger becoming the CEO; it was about the total reinvention of what a modern media company looks like. It was messy, expensive, and incredibly risky. But it worked.