Is Bob Iger Disney's Helicopter Parent? Plus IBM, CNBC Spark, Intel & More

Arvind Krishna of IBM, Maulik Majmudar of Biofourmis, Sandra Rivera of Intel

I was all set to send this newsletter out this morning and focus on my recent conversations with a variety of founders and CEOs, and then the news dropped that Bob Iger is returning to Disney as CEO, replacing Bob Chapek. The idea is that Iger will return for two years, pick another successor, and leave again.

I’m skeptical.

I must start by establishing that Bob Iger is a legendary media CEO. He bought Pixar for $7.4 billion in his first year at the helm in 2006 (a steal), bought Marvel for $4 billion three years later (another steal), and Lucasfilm for $4 billion three years after that (ditto). He closed out his tenure buying 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion (which is a lot of money, come to think of it).

The problem is that Disney and Bob Iger seem to be uncertain whether they can do without each other.

Less than a year ago, Iger insisted he was never, ever coming back. In an interview with Kara Swisher in January, he called rumors that he might return as CEO “ridiculous.”

“I was C.E.O. for a long time,” he said. “You can’t go home again. I’m gone.”

Yet here he is, home again.

Why, you might ask, is that a problem? Legendary CEO, turbulent times? Well, because Iger was originally supposed to leave in 2015, after 10 years at the helm. Two years before that deadline, he announced he would extend it a year and retire in 2016. In total, he postponed his retirement four times, the last time because of COVID. (Who could leave during COVID?) Now he’s coming back because, presumably, of the difficult process of emerging from COVID.

Put it all together, and by the time Iger finally leaves in 2025 — if he actually leaves in 2025 — he will have spent most of the last 20 years with one foot out the door, or in the door, at Disney.

As trailblazing as Iger’s acquisitions have been, as discerning as his taste has proven, he has injected nearly a decade of uncertainty into Disney’s executive leadership and succession processes. He’ll presumably have to pick a new CEO from the people he passed over in favor of Chapek — the ones who stayed, anyway. Either that, or he’ll have to bring in an outsider and risk sparking another leadership exodus.

Now, insights from the week that was:

I started last week in Las Vegas on Monday, hosting the first CNBC Spark dinner. We focused on the intersection of health and technology, as many gathered for the HLTH conference. I moderated two conversations. The first focused on the potential of data-driven technologies to improve health outcomes for populations that have been overlooked too often; Biofourmis Cofounder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Maulik Majmudar, Maven Clinic Chief Medical Officer Dr. Neel Shah, and Lux Capital Partner Deena Shakir joined me for that. The second focused on software to help doctors and hospitals work more efficiently; Optum Health CEO of Care Dr. Patrick Conway and Doximity Cofounder and Chief Strategy Officer Dr. Nate Gross joined me for that. The upshot: Money is still flowing into innovative approaches that are making a difference (see Maven’s Series E and Doximity’s quarterly results), and technology alone doesn’t solve these problems; mindset shifts and education are key.

On Tuesday I was back in New York, co-hosting CNBC’s Technology Executive Council Summit. There, Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami joined me on stage to talk about hybrid cloud, multicloud, and adjustments for the economic slowdown. The upshot there: Nutanix is hiring talent that otherwise was inclined to go to startups or bigger tech companies, and is trying to offer its services in ways that are easier for budget-strapped customers to consume.

Wednesday I interviewed IBM CEO Arvind Krishna at RBC’s technology conference. Some video from that conversation is below. One key bit that’s not in that clip: I asked Arvind for his take on a couple of trends I’ve noticed. One, tech companies that have a good amount of government business are finding those revenues more stable in this stage of the slowdown; IBM is one of those. Two, there’s still plenty of spending in industrial and manufacturing technology. He agreed on both points.

Thursday I interviewed Intel EVP of Datacenter and AI Sandra Rivera, video below. Intel is trying to pull off the turnaround of the decade, fixing design shortcomings, and manufacturing stumbles, while also standing up a foundry business. With Sandra I focused on the datacenter chip roadmap, and when it would be clear whether Intel has begun executing at the level it needs to for CEO Pat Gelsinger’s plan to work.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna on Services Productivity and Presence in China

Biofourmis cofounder Maulik Majmudar on Health Innovation in a Slowdown

Also from the event, Deena Shakir of Lux Capital and Neel Shah of Maven Clinic talk about health innovation in a shifting economy:

Sandra Rivera, EVP Datacenter and AI, on Intel’s Turnaround Path and Server Chip Roadmap

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