The House Of Mouse (bob Iger And The War Of Succession At Disney)

By (author) Whelan, Robbie
Description:

The extraordinary inside story of the battle for control of Disney – a tale of power, out-of-control egos and corporate blood sport.

‘Sure to become a classic of corporate non-fiction... Richly reported, sharply observed and full of astonishing scenes’
McKay Coppins, author of Romney: A Reckoning

‘We’ll be talking about Bob Iger, and this book, for a very long time’
Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store

THE TALE DISNEY NEVER WANTED TOLD

Over fifteen years as CEO, Bob Iger transformed Disney into the world’s most powerful entertainment empire. Through a series of bold, high-stakes acquisitions – including Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox – he reshaped not only Disney, but the global entertainment industry.

But the long-reigning monarch struggled to relinquish control of the palace.

When Iger finally handed the CEO crown to his chosen successor, Bob Chapek, what followed was an extraordinary struggle for power. A dramatic coup ousted Chapek and returned Iger to the throne, exposing the strengths, vulnerabilities and dysfunction at the heart of one of the world’s most famous companies.

What happens when one man becomes so inseparable from a company that he comes to believe only he can run it?

Drawing on hundreds of exclusive interviews and thousands of pages of documentary evidence, veteran Wall Street Journal business reporter Robbie Whelan takes readers inside the decades-long, Machiavellian power struggle that brought Disney to the brink.

A front-row seat to the battle for the soul – and control – of a global entertainment juggernaut, The House of Mouse is the gripping inside story of Bob Iger, Disney and a succession war like no other.

‘A richly reported, delightfully gossipy study of the complicated man behind the public performance... one of the great American business stories’
Bethany McLean, co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room

‘A portrait of a man who came to see a uniquely American entertainment behemoth as inseparable from himself, and who struggled to find a successor he wouldn’t want to destroy’
Jeff Horwitz, author of Broken Code

Review quote:
‘In a book that’s sure to become a classic of corporate nonfiction, Robbie Whelan takes readers deep inside one of the most consequential—and dysfunctional—succession sagas in modern American business. Richly reported, sharply observed, and full of astonishing scenes, The House of Mouse explains not only how Bob Iger came to dominate America''s most iconic entertainment company, but why finding someone to follow him proved so difficult.’
Review quote:
''With scrupulous reporting and incisive writing that takes the reader on a wild ride, from the deck of the mogul''s yacht to the depths of Disney''s hallowed boardrooms, Whelan explains everything from Iger''s picky eating habits to the way the CEO wrestled with big strategic challenges to achieve an astonishing level of staying power as leader of the world''s most-iconic entertainment company.’
Review quote:
In Robbie Whelan''s deeply reported, colorfully written account of this cultural and corporate giant''s many intrigues, the dialogue is always crackling, the knives are always flashing, and the Machiavellian Bob Iger is forever returning from his super-yacht to retake control of what seems the unhappiest place on earth. Whelan has authoritatively pierced the myth of Disney''s ''Sun King'' CEO and provided business schools a great case study in how not to do succession.’
Review quote:
‘Whelan''s masterfully reported survey of Bob Iger''s career at Disney offers a tour of the CEO''s triumphs, failures and many grievances. Through transformative deals and corporate backstabbing, The House of Mouse is a portra