(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY CATIE LUA

ANCHOR ANTHONY MARTINEZ
 

Disney announced Friday CEO Bob Iger will no longer be the big cheese as of March 2015.

And CNN reports that means one of the world’s largest entertainment companies will be undergoing a series of management changes in the next few years.

Anchor: “Walt Disney Company says CEO Bob Iger will step down in March 2015 after just short of a decade at the helm.  The company’s value has increased by more than a third under Iger and annual revenue has reached $40 billion.  There’s no word on a possible successor. Iger will continue as executive chairman of the board through June 2016.”

According to CNBC, Disney’s current man-behind-the-mouse has worked his own magic since taking over for predecessor Michael Eisner.

Anchor: “Iger has had a very impressive track record, leading Disney to record operating results.  Since becoming CEO in October 2005, the stock has gained more than 31 percent, the DOW over that same period up just about 5 percent. And the company has out-performed the S&P 500 by five times.  In his tenure, Iger has expanded Disney with bold acquisitions, buying Pixar in 2006 and Marvel in 2009.”

Some media are wondering why this announcement is coming more than three years in advance, the Wall Street Journal says this is just Disney exercising caution with its highest executives.

Anchor: “You do occasionally see these, you know, very long corporate handoffs, where they want an orderly transition, you know, no surprises and no hurt feelings, you know, Iger’s contract was supposed to expire in 2013, it got extended until 2015, 2016, um, and you know they have all that time now to figure out who’s going to take that job once he leaves.”

And it seems Disney is not without a plan -- The LA Times reports the company has been grooming two frontrunners to succeed Iger.

In 2009, Iger flip-flopped their positions to give them a fuller understanding of both operations and investment.

“In 2009, Iger... named Tom Staggs, the company’s [CFO], as chairman of the parks and resorts group... Jay Rasulo, who at the time served as head of the parks division, took over as the company’s face to Wall Street.”

As for Iger, The New York Times has one theory as to what he’ll be doing when he jumps from the magical world -- to the real world.

“Since chief executives are typically pulled from their corner offices kicking and screaming, attention will focus on what Mr. Iger has planned for his long-term future. There has long been speculation that he has political ambitions, possibly in New York, where he grew up and worked early in his career.”