The Ride of a Lifetime

Robert Iger opens with a scene from June 2016, when he was overseeing final preparations for the opening of Shanghai Disneyland, a $6 billion theme park that took 18 years to complete. During the same week, he learned that a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando had killed more than 50 people, including two Disney employees, and that the shooter had originally targeted Disney World. Days later, an alligator attacked a two-year-old boy at a Disney resort in Orlando; the boy was missing and later confirmed dead. On the morning of the park's opening, Iger called the boy's parents to express condolences. The juxtaposition of triumph and tragedy, he writes, captures the reality of leading Disney. He introduces 10 leadership principles that structure the book, including optimism, courage, integrity, and the relentless pursuit of perfection.

Iger grew up in a working-class household in Oceanside, Long Island. His father, a Navy veteran and advertising executive who had manic depression, cycled through jobs, instilling in Iger both intellectual curiosity and a keen awareness of professional disappointment. After attending Ithaca College, Iger joined ABC Television in 1974 as a studio supervisor earning $150 per week. He transferred to ABC Sports, where he came under the influence of Roone Arledge, head of the division, who had transformed televised sports with innovations like reverse-angle cameras and slow-motion replays. Arledge's refusal to accept mediocrity became the most formative influence on Iger's leadership philosophy, though Iger also observed that Arledge's capriciousness bred fear among staff, teaching him that excellence and fairness need not be mutually exclusive.

In 1985, Capital Cities Communications acquired ABC for $3.5 billion. Its leaders, Tom Murphy and Dan Burke, imposed fiscal discipline but bet on talent. At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Iger served as senior program executive and improvised nightly programming when freak weather wiped out events. Murphy and Burke took notice and named him president of ABC Entertainment in 1989 despite his having no Hollywood experience. Iger championed risky projects like Twin Peaks, a surreal drama from filmmaker David Lynch, and NYPD Blue, a boundary-pushing police drama that won 20 Emmys. ABC finished first in the key 18-to-49 demographic four out of five years. His core lesson was that the willingness to fail is essential to innovation.

In the spring of 1995, Disney CEO Michael Eisner began exploring an acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC; the deal finalized in early 1996 for $19.5 billion. Eisner hired Michael Ovitz, co-founder of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), as president of Disney, but Ovitz clashed with Disney's corporate culture and was terminated in December 1996. Eisner operated without a formal number two for three years before naming Iger president and COO in December 1999. Disney faced mounting crises: ABC's ratings declined, Animation produced expensive failures, and the relationship between Eisner and Steve Jobs, CEO of both Apple and Pixar, deteriorated. Walt Disney's nephew Roy Disney launched a public campaign to oust Eisner. At the March 2004 shareholders meeting, 43 percent of shareholders voted against Eisner, and the board stripped him of his chairmanship. Eisner announced he would step down when his contract expired in 2006.

Political consultant Scott Miller advised Iger to treat the succession process like an election and limit his vision to three priorities: invest in high-quality branded content, embrace technology, and grow globally. After six months of board interviews and public skepticism, the board voted to make Iger CEO in March 2005. He settled Roy Disney's lawsuit by offering an emeritus board role, recognizing that Roy's core grievance was feeling disrespected by the company bearing his family name. He dismantled Strategic Planning, a centralized unit that had stifled decision-making, and pushed authority back to business-unit leaders. He then approached Jobs with a proposal to distribute ABC shows digitally. Jobs responded by revealing a prototype video iPod and asking whether Disney would supply content. Iger agreed immediately, opening the door to a larger conversation about Pixar.

At his first board meeting as CEO, Iger presented a stark assessment of Disney Animation's decline and proposed buying Pixar. He visited Pixar's campus, met its creative leaders John Lasseter and Ed Catmull, and assured them Pixar's culture would be preserved. Tom Staggs, Disney's chief financial officer, and Jobs negotiated a price of $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal. The board voted nine to two in favor. Just before the announcement, Jobs pulled Iger aside and revealed that his cancer had returned, offering to cancel the deal. Iger declined. That night, instead of celebrating, he and his wife, Willow Bay, cried over the news.

With Pixar secured, Iger pursued Marvel Entertainment. After building personal rapport with its reclusive CEO, Ike Perlmutter, and enlisting Jobs to vouch for him, Iger announced the $4 billion acquisition in August 2009. When Perlmutter's management style threatened to drive Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige out of the company, Iger removed Perlmutter's authority over the studio and placed Feige under Alan Horn, the head of Disney Studios. Iger pushed Marvel to diversify its films, ordering Black Panther and Captain Marvel into production. Black Panther earned over $1 billion worldwide and became a cultural phenomenon.

Lucasfilm came next. At a 2011 breakfast, Iger raised the question of succession with George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars and owner of Lucasfilm. Lucas said he was not ready to sell but that Iger would be his only call. Months later, Lucas initiated negotiations. The price of $4.05 billion was settled quickly, but talks over Lucas's creative role broke down twice before closing at the end of 2012. Jobs had died on October 5, 2011; Iger spoke at his private burial. When director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathy Kennedy, whom Lucas had hired to run Lucasfilm, chose not to follow Lucas's story outlines for the new trilogy, Lucas felt betrayed. The Force Awakens set box-office records in December 2015.

Iger then turned to the disruption of Disney's media businesses. He briefly pursued an acquisition of Twitter but withdrew over concerns about hate speech and brand risk. Instead, Disney invested in BAMTech, a streaming technology company, and announced plans to launch ESPN+ and Disney+. Less than two weeks after the announcement, Rupert Murdoch, the founder of 21st Century Fox, signaled willingness to sell. Fox's assets, including its movie studio, FX Networks, international operations, and a stake in the streaming service Hulu, aligned with all three of Iger's strategic priorities. After a bidding war with Comcast that pushed Disney's offer to $38 per share, the deal closed in March 2019. During this period, Iger navigated personnel crises: Lasseter departed after complaints of unwanted physical contact, and Roseanne Barr's racist tweet led Iger to cancel her ABC show within hours.

On April 11, 2019, Disney unveiled Disney+ to investors at $6.99 per month, and the stock jumped 11 percent the next day. That spring, Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing film of all time. Iger reflects that his journey from a working-class childhood on Long Island to stewardship of Walt Disney's legacy depended on luck, mentors, and risk-taking. The hardest lesson of leadership, he concludes, is to hold on to an awareness of who you are even as the world insists on your power and importance.