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The former longtime CEO of The Walt Disney Company sat down with Robin Roberts for an episode of Good Morning America this morning to reflect on his legacy and promote the release of his new memoir about his return as CEO after Bob Chapek’s firing.
Bob Iger on Good Morning America
The interview took place at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, part of the rebuilt World Trade Center in New York. Iger and Disney were involved in the creation of the center, aiming to bring arts and culture to the WTC.
“The ability to support the arts that ultimately bring people together into great common experiences, I think, has never been more important,” said Iger.
Roberts asked Iger about his legacy and proudest accomplishment. He referenced growing the company and handing it off “to a successor in a very healthy state,” but didn’t mention Chapek.
Ultimately, he said “having the opportunity to bring joy to the world, to entertain the world, was extraordinary, and that’s a nice legacy to leave.”
Looking back, he said he made a “fair amount” of mistakes but he doesn’t spend time second guessing. “I wouldn’t want to do anything differently,” he said.
Regarding his recent purchase of the L.A. Lakers, he said, “You’re seeing a true resurgence of interest in live sports, whether it’s on television or whether it’s in person. People love to experience things together. The Lakers are an incredible brand.”
A typical day for him after retirement is “quieter” and “smaller in many respects.”
“And while I miss the team, I don’t necessarily miss the game,” he said.
“I’m proud of what I accomplished,” he added, “but I’m also unbelievably grateful for having had that opportunity. It was the ride of a lifetime.”
Iger will be awarded the 2026 PAC NYC Icon of Culture honor and more of his interview with Roberts will air next week.
Iger’s appearance coincidentally follows a spate of media coverage of his failed successor, Bob Chapek’s recently released memoir Behind the Castle Walls, which claims that his tenure as CEO at The Walt Disney Company was effectively sabotaged by Iger, with whom he has an ongoing “beef.” The book sold fewer than 2,500 copies in its first week.
Iger has openly admitted that Disney wasn’t thorough enough when choosing Bob Chapek as his successor.
One Last Time: Managing Crisis and Building Resilience at Disney
Bob Iger will release a new memoir about his return to the position of The Walt Disney Company CEO after Bob Chapek’s firing. It’s called One Last Time: Managing Crisis and Building Resilience at Disney.
One Last Time: Managing Crisis and Building Resilience at Disney is co-written with Dan Schwerin. Random House will release it on March 2, 2027. The hardcover will be $34 and 256 pages. Here’s the full description:
Robert Iger was less than a year into his retirement when he got an urgent phone call from the chair of the Disney board: Would he be willing to return to his job as CEO? Finances were shaky, leadership was flagging, morale was dangerously low, and the brand was tarnished. They needed him back.
It wasn’t going to be easy this time around. The entertainment industry was facing existential threats: movie theaters had suffered in the pandemic, traditional TV was fading, and audiences were moving, at alarming speed, toward streaming platforms and short-form content. It was harder to deliver profit, let alone growth. Legacy media everywhere was being split up, getting swallowed by other companies, or simply running itself into the ground. When Iger agreed to return, he did so with one goal in mind: to put the failed succession behind him and put Disney back on firm footing. To survive, the company—and Iger himself—would have to become more resilient, innovative, and, above all, creative. Iger would also have to learn to be a new kind of leader, and he would be challenged in ways he never imagined.
How do you lead through periods of adversity? How do you regain the trust of employees, customers, and shareholders? Iger would have to develop a new playbook, for a new era, and he would make his share of mistakes along the way. One Last Time is the story of the sometimes bumpy, never boring journey to reconnect a great company to its core values, while building a new, lasting foundation in a highly disruptive and rapidly changing world.
Iger’s first memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, was published in 2019.
The announcement of One Last Time follows the release of Chapek’s memoir Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth. Despite a media tour, the memoir had low sales in its first week.
Pre-order One Last Time on Amazon.
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The post ‘I Wouldn’t Do Anything Differently’ – Bob Iger Reflects on Legacy During Interview On Good Morning America appeared first on WDW News Today.
