Robert Iger

. He has been President since June 2000 and CEO since October 2005.

Before joining Disney, Iger worked for Capital Cities/ABC, where he was President and COO until that company was purchased by Disney.

It was announced on March 13, 2005, that Iger would replace longtime Disney chief Michael Eisner as CEO on October 1, 2005, a year ahead of schedule and after Meg Whitman, CEO of EBay, withdrew her name from consideration to be CEO. Although Eisner was to remain CEO for over six months, Iger immediately took the reigns as Disney s de facto CEO, with Eisner serving a more advisory role.

Iger made his first move at the helm of Disney when in March 2005 he sacked Peter Murphy, the company s Chief Strategic Officer and pledged to disband the company s strategic planning division. The division, which Eisner had created, was charged by many inside and outside the company with stifling creativity.

Iger also made bold moves in restarting negotiations with Disney s film production partner Pixar Animation Studios and by reconciling the company s differences with former shareholders Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold, who in July 2005 dropped their SaveDisney campaign. Disney, Gold, and Pixar chairman Steve Jobs had all been alienated by Iger s predecessor, Eisner.

On the first day of Iger s term at the helm of the media conglemorate, he fired many senior staff at the Muppet Holding Company, the subsidary of Disney which controls The Muppets. [http://www.jimhillmedia.com/article.phpid=1673] Eisner had personally hand-picked this staff himself when the Muppets became Disney property in April 2005. Many saw Iger s action as a sign that Disney is entering a new era with no baggage from past CEOs.