Robert Alan Chapek (born 1959) is an American businessman and former media executive who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company from 2020 to 2022. He joined Masimo's board of directors in 2024.
Before becoming CEO, Chapek had a 26-year career with The Walt Disney Company, beginning in the Home Entertainment division, and eventually rising to become Chairman of Parks & Resorts. Chapek, who had a controversial tenure as CEO, was dismissed from the position on November 20, 2022, and succeeded by his predecessor, Bob Iger.
Chapek graduated from George Rogers Clark Jr./Sr. High School in 1977. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from Indiana University Bloomington and a Master of Business Administration from Michigan State University.
In 2014, Chapek launched the Disney Imagicademy, which was a suite of numerous tablet and smart-phone apps designed to give children high quality learning games. This was Disney's first full foray into the learning-app market. Chapek said he spearheaded this initiative after numerous parents told his department that they found it difficult to find high quality learning apps out of the thousands that were available online.
As chairman of Parks and Resorts, Chapek invested over $24 billion into the theme parks, attractions, hotels and cruise ships. The New York Times noted that Chapek's spending was more money than Disney spent in acquiring Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm combined.
In the fall of 2017, after Parks and Resorts recorded at 14% increase in operating income, many in the media began to speculate that Chapek would likely succeed Bob Iger as the next Disney CEO.
In March 2018, after a reorganization of divisions in order to prepare for the launch of Disney+, Chapek was given back the consumer products divisions (including the ), in addition to his responsibilities for all of the parks and resorts and related experiences. Then, CEO Bob Iger said, "Bob Chapek comes to this new role with an impressive record of success at both parks and resorts and consumer products, and he is the perfect leader to run these combined teams." This furthered speculation that Chapek would be Iger's successor.
In August 2019, Chapek announced that he had negotiated a retail collaboration to open 25 mini Disney Store shops within select Target department stores across the United States. Chapek stated that people who purchase Disney products were already likely to shop at Target, and the deal gives Disney the opportunity to expand its own footprint beyond traditional shopping malls. The Disney mini-shops will be an average of 750 square feet and be located near Target's kids clothing and toy departments. They'll have more than 450 items, including more than 100 products previously only available at Disney retail locations.
On May 18, 2020, Chapek announced Josh D'Amaro as his successor to the position of chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
In numerous interviews with financial news outlets during the pandemic, Chapek said he was focusing on opening Disney's theme parks. In May 2020, Shanghai Disneyland opened with limited guest capacity capped at approximately 24,000 visitors per day, pursuant to government regulations. Chapek acknowledged that this was a "baby step", but found the attendance figures encouraging, considering that the limited number of tickets were selling out. Chapek vowed to increase capacity in the weeks to come, albeit in a conservative manner.
Chapek stated that upon the reopening of Walt Disney World in July 2020, both employees and guests would be required to take temperature checks, wear face masks, and observe social distancing guidelines. He said that the company would continue to work with local government and healthcare professionals to open the parks responsibly. He added that when the parks reopened, the first attraction he will ride would be Pirates of the Caribbean. In October 2020, Chapek agreed to keep Disney World at only 25% capacity until the CDC issued new guidance, and also stated that with regards to reopening Disneyland in California, "It's not much of a negotiation. It's pretty much a mandate that we stay closed." In March 2021, after California eased COVID-19 restrictions, he then stated, "Here in California, we're encouraged by the positive trends we're seeing and we're hopeful they'll continue to improve and we'll be able to reopen our Parks to guests with limited capacity by late April." By July 2021, Walt Disney World had officially ended their mask mandate (except while on Disney transportation) and temperature checks, and were operating at higher capacity. That same month, fireworks shows at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland returned. Under Chapek’s leadership, Disney weathered the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue for Disney’s parks, experiences, and products business more than doubled to $6.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022, compared with the prior-year period.
In October 2020, Chapek spoke about the company's decision to begin focusing on streaming media, including Disney+, and direct-to-consumer advertising. Multiple films that were originally slated for theatrical releases, including Mulan and Soul, did not receive theatrical releases and instead debuted on Disney+. Mulan was offered on Disney+ for a premium fee, while Soul was offered for no additional cost.
The New York Times ( NYT) further reported that Chapek had a "happy go lucky" demeanor during the conference call held after the November 8 earnings report. Chapek was also criticized by the NYT for emphasizing the success of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Calls for Chapek's removal were emphasized that day by Mad Money host Jim Cramer, who particularly aimed criticism towards Disney's "balance sheet from hell". Investor Nelson Peltz later attributed these losses to Disney’s 2019 acquisition of Fox under Iger.
Chapek's exit package was expected to be worth $23.4 million, including the remainder of his CEO salary at $6.5 million and a pension worth $16.9 million, which was accumulated over his 29-year career at Disney.
In May 2023, Chapek and a group of other Disney executives were sued for alleged securities fraud. The suit alleged that they had misled investors about Disney+ subscription numbers to make the service appear more successful than it was. The suit was dismissed by the plaintiffs in October 2023.
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