The Ride Of A Lifetime

The Ride Of A Lifetime illustrates Robert Iger’s journey to becoming the CEO of Disney, and how his vision, strategy, and guidance successfully led the company through a time when its future was highly uncertain.

Call it luck or fate if you want, but Iger’s career success began as no chance. After surgery in Manhattan, his uncle Bob was recovering and just so happened to be sharing a room with an executive at ABC.

For whatever reason, this hospital roommate decided to share his reputation with Iger’s uncle. When Bob said that he had a 23-year-old nephew that needed a job, the executive gave him his number to give to Iger.

Although embarrassed when Iger actually called, the man used his influence to get Iger an interview in a small department within ABC. While the pay wasn’t great and the schedule difficult, Iger had his first job with the company.

There were benefits to the position, however. While working on one show he got to meet Frank Sinatra, for example. He also got to meet other influential people at ABC, one of whom offered him a different position in the Sports division.

While there, Iger got to experience a lot more luxury than in his previous role. He got to spend time with celebrities and athletes, enjoy expensive lunches, and travel the world. It wasn’t all fun and games though, as Iger worked hard and learned a lot.

All of this was laying the foundations for his work with Disney. And it was from a simple connection his uncle made in a hospital and Iger’s diligence to follow up on it.

After an eventual promotion to COO of ABC, Iger found himself working for Disney when the two companies merged in 1996. Working hard through difficult circumstances, Iger proved himself. When it was time for the company to appoint a new CEO, his efforts and plan for moving forward landed him the position. He had his work cut out for him, of course, because Disney had been struggling under its former leader. One of the biggest parts of his plan to regain lost ground was to purchase Pixar. The studio had a rough past with Disney, and Steve Jobs, who owned it at the time, wasn’t happy with Disney either. When Iger suggested his plan to the board, they had a hard time believing this was possible. Pixar had a $6 billion valuation and Jobs would be a tough nut to crack. Determined that this would save Disney, Iger persisted. It was 2005 when Iger called Jobs to pitch his crazy idea. Although Iger asked for a meeting, the eager Steve Jobs wanted to hear it right then. With apprehension,…