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Back to Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire.

How Fast Did Disney Plus Reach 100 Million Subscribers?

David Rosenthal says Disney Plus reached 100 million subscribers in 16 months. Disney had set a goal of 60 to 90 million subscribers within five years, and the service blew past even the aggressive end of that range once COVID kept people at home.

Disney Plus launched in November 2019, already on app stores and TVs when COVID hit. In February 2020 Bob Iger retired as CEO and Bob Chapek, who had led the parks division, came in as the new CEO. In March 2020 the parks went empty, Disney's market cap dropped 40%, and net income for the year turned negative. In March 2021 Disney announced it had passed 100 million subscribers. With interest rates at zero, the market cap hit $360 billion at its peak around January 1, 2021, and by October 2021 the stock had begun falling back to where it started.

Grokipedia·Bob Iger·Bob Chapek

Transcript

Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire ·

Acquired

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  18. How Did Bob Iger Win the Disney CEO Job?Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal say Bob Iger won by refusing to defend the past.
  19. Why Did Bob Iger Lose Faith in Disney Animation?Ben Gilbert says Bob Iger, during his CEO audition process, had completely lost faith that Disney animation can be fixed from within.
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