New Disney CEO Bob Iger started history of leadership under ABC Group
A Bob Iger biography
BURBANK, Calif., March 13, 2005 - Robert A. Iger was named president
and chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Company in January, 2000.
At that time, he also became a member of Disney's board of directors
and of its executive management committee.
Iger had been chairman of the Disney-owned ABC Group, where he guided
the complex merger of ABC with The Walt Disney Company. Simultaneously,
he was president of Walt Disney International, where he created an organization
embracing Europe, the Asia-Pacific Region and Latin America. His mission
for Walt Disney International was to establish Disney's brand on a worldwide
basis and consolidate international operations under a coordinated leadership.
As Disney's president and chief operating officer, Iger works with
Michael D. Eisner, chief executive officer, in overseeing all aspects
of The Walt Disney Company's operations on a worldwide basis. The heads
of all of Disney's business units and its chief strategic officer report
to both Eisner and Iger. Iger first became part of Disney's management
team in 1996, when The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC,
where Iger had been president and chief operating officer.
During Iger's years with ABC, he obtained hands-on experience in virtually
every aspect of the television network business, including news, sports
and entertainment, as well as the business side of television such as
program acquisition, rights negotiations and business affairs.
ABC saw tremendous growth during Iger's career there, becoming a market
leader in network television and expanding into numerous cable and related
ventures, including A&E, The History Channel, Lifetime, ESPN and
ESPN-related businesses.
He began his career at ABC in 1974 as a studio supervisor in New York,
then moved to ABC Sports, where he advanced over a 12-year period through
a series of increasingly responsible management posts. He became vice
president of programming, responsible for all scheduling and program
acquisitions for ABC Sports in 1987. He left ABC Sports in 1988 for
a promotion to executive vice president of the ABC Television Network
and became president of ABC Entertainment in Los Angeles a year later.
Iger was promoted to president to the ABC Television Network Group in
New York in 1993 and added the title of president and chief operating
officer of ABC in 1994.
He is a member of the board of directors of Lincoln Center for the
Performing Arts, Inc. and New York City Outward Bound. He is a trustee
of the Museum of Television and Radio and of Ithaca College, where he
graduated magna cum laude.
A native of New York, Iger was born February 10, 1951. He has two daughters,
Kate and Amanda, and two sons, Max and William. He is married to Willow
Bay.
