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Disney (NYSE:DIS) CEO Bob Iger told staff that next year will be about building a “modern version” of the company, and said no decisions were made regarding major asset sales.
Iger downplayed his earlier comments on potential asset sales, saying he likes to “run things up flagpoles to see how they will fly.”
“I did not think everyone would run with a story that everything is being sold, which is not the case,” Iger told ABC News anchor David Muir at the companywide townhall.
Iger retook the helm last year, and began an overhaul at the company through cost cuts, layoffs and prioritizing streaming profitability. Disney (DIS) is targeting to save $7.5B this year.
“I spent the year with the team fixing a lot of things,” Iger said at the townhall, adding that there were more challenges than he expected. “But I feel we’ve just emerged from a period of a lot of fixing to one of building again.”
The launch of a direct-to-consumer version of ESPN remains a major priority for Disney (DIS) and is expected to launch by 2025.
While Disney (DIS) has held talks with sports leagues and tech companies to partner with ESPN, Iger said finding partners isn’t mandatory. “We could go it alone. We’re fully prepared to do that,” he said, although it would be “a little more challenging.”
As for Disney’s (DIS) recent lackluster box office performance, Iger reiterated that the focus is now on quality, not quantity. “When it comes to creating a perception of the company, nothing is more powerful than movies.”
Note that Disney’s (DIS) stock has struggled to hold on to gains since Iger’s return, declining 3.3% over the past year.
