Disney CEO To Step Down In 2019

Bob Iger

Bob Iger is giving up his Mickey Mouse ears.

The CEO of Disney confirmed Tuesday that he plans to leave the company in mid-2019, reports the NYDaily News.

“This time I mean it,” Iger joked at Vanity Fair's New Establishment Summit.

The 66-year-old Long Island native took over as CEO in 2005 and was responsible for the acquisition of Pixar in 2006, Marvel in 2009 and Lucasfilm in 2012.

Iger began his career at ABC and was named ABC Network Television Group president in 1993. He became the president of Walt Disney International in 1999 and took over as president and COO of Disney a year later.

His contract was originally supposed to expire in June 2016, but he was given a three-year extension as a consultant that paid $2 million for each of the first two years and $1 million for the final year.


In March, the Hollywood Reporter said that Iger’s friends had been urging him to run for president in 2020.