No one else had managed to solve the problem by rebuilding from within, and Iger didn’t think he could do it either. Some people thought the $7 billion-plus price tag they settled on was too high, but Iger was convinced it was the only way to go.

Iger takes you through all the twists and turns of the negotiations with Steve. Rather than trying to rebuild the studio, Iger decides to try to buy the most successful animation company out there: Pixar, whose CEO and majority owner was Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Although the company had built its reputation on animation (including old classics like Snow White and modern ones like the original Lion King), by the time Iger took over, Disney had experienced a long series of box-office disappointments. One of the most memorable parts of the book occurs in 2006, shortly after Iger becomes Disney’s CEO. “Iger decides to try to buy the most successful animation company out there: Pixar.” there are also, always, crises and failures for which you can never be fully prepared.” Although I never had to deal with most of those specific issues, the overall picture he draws is quite accurate. You’re always worried, “Which thing am I not spending enough time on?” As Iger writes, “You go from plotting growth strategy with investors, to looking at the design of a giant new theme-park attraction with Imagineers, to giving notes on the rough cut of a film, to discussing security measures and board governance and ticket pricing and pay scale. Iger does a great job explaining what it is like to be a CEO.

This is a short, readable book with smart insights, and along the way he crosses paths with some colorful characters. In fact, I have already suggested it to several friends and colleagues, including Satya Nadella.Īs the person who led Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, Lucasfilm (that is, all the Star Wars stuff), Marvel, and most of 21 st Century Fox, Iger is able to take you inside the workings of a massive media company and show how he thought about building on its strengths and shoring up its weaknesses. Whenever someone asks me to recommend one book on business, that’s the one I suggest most often.īut I recently read another business book that I will happily recommend to anyone who asks: The Ride of a Lifetime, by former Disney CEO Robert Iger. It’s still the case that the best business book I have ever read is Business Adventures, a little-known collection of articles by a reporter named John Brooks. In my experience, it is rare to find one that really captures what it’s like to build and operate an organization or that has tips you could really put into practice. I don’t read many books about how to run a business.

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