On Monday, Disney announced that Hugh Johnston, who has been the top money person at PepsiCo for a long time, will become the new chief financial officer (CFO) of Disney. Disney is facing challenges with its stock price not doing so well, and it’s losing money from its streaming services.
Johnston has been working at PepsiCo for 34 years, starting in different jobs at the food and drink company before becoming CFO in 2010. He will start his new job at Disney on December 4 and will report directly to CEO Bob Iger.
In the recent week Disney also announced getting all of Hulu stakes. The entertainment giant revealed that they plan to pay around $8.61 billion to own all of Hulu, including Comcast’s 33 percent part.
Disney’s Leadership Changes
In a statement, Johnston said, “Disney is a very famous company with some of the most loved brands in the world, and it has strong financial support to help build the company’s future, as Bob and his team are doing. Very few companies have been around as long as Disney has, which makes it a special and rare company.”
Disney’s former Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Christine McCarthy, left her position earlier this year. Her departure happened while the company was making big changes under Bob Iger, who started his second term as CEO about a year ago. Disney had to let go of 7,000 employees in multiple rounds of layoffs this year.
Disney is thinking about making some significant changes, such as selling ABC and finding partners for ESPN. This is because the TV business where people pay for channels is losing lots of customers each year. Disney has also brought in some former Disney executives, Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, to help plan how to reshape their businesses.
Investor Pressure and CEO Transition
Disney, a big entertainment company, is facing more challenges because activist investor Nelson Peltz is putting pressure on them. They are dealing with losses in their streaming service and a drop in their stock price, which has gone down by about 2% this year.
Nelson Peltz’s company, Trian Fund Management, has bought more Disney shares, and now they own around 30 million of them. According to report, Trian Fund Management is planning to ask for multiple seats on Disney’s board, and one of those seats could be for Nelson Peltz himself.
In addition to these challenges, Disney is also looking for someone to take over as CEO because Bob Iger, who came back to that role last November, won’t be there permanently.
Disney is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings report after the stock market closes on Wednesday.
Conclusion
Disney is undergoing major changes with the appointment of Hugh Johnston as the new CFO. Facing financial challenges and shifting strategies, Disney seeks to recover and adapt. Additionally, activist investor Nelson Peltz’s involvement and the quest for a new CEO contribute to the company’s evolving landscape. Disney’s quarterly earnings report is anticipated.
