Bob Iger’s Disney Book Gives Details on Pixar, Fox, Marvel Deals
The Ride of a Lifetime should have been called How to Succeed in a Business Full of Prima Donnas and Raging Egomaniacs.
Iger speaks at the Disney Legends Awards ceremony fan event in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 23.
Photographer: Li Ying/Redux
The title of Bob Iger’s new book, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company (Random House, $28), suggests that it will appeal primarily to corporate ladder climbers. But once Iger dispenses with some inspirational evangelizing, he treats readers to a vivid account of his 45-year career, one that might more aptly be titled How to Succeed in a Business Full of Prima Donnas and Raging Egomaniacs.
The broad outline of Iger’s saga is well-known—how he toiled for almost a decade in the shadow of his combative predecessor Michael Eisner and took command of the besieged Magic Kingdom in 2005, rejuvenating it with bold acquisitions such as Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and, later, much of 21st Century Fox. As it turns out, there’s a lot we didn’t know about Iger’s maneuvers and, indeed, the man himself.