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Robert A. Iger - President & Chief Operating Officer, The Walt Disney Company

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, chairman and 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 was named 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 Feb. 10, 1951. He has two daughters, Kate and Amanda, and a son, Max.
He is married to Willow Bay, co-anchor of CNN Moneyline.

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