What's Going On With Disney Stock Monday?

Walt Disney Co DIS stock is trading higher Monday amid reports of the company engaging former executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs as advisors to current CEO Bob Iger to deal with the company's legacy television businesses, including ESPN.

Mayer and Staggs were once considered potential successors to Bob Iger during his first stint as CEO but departed as their chances of getting the top job wilted, Financial Times cites familiar sources.

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Staggs held numerous roles at Disney, including CFO, COO, and head of theme parks. Mayer worked closely with Iger on a series of acquisitions and was a key architect of Disney's streaming strategy. 

They now run Candle, a media group they founded backed by Blackstone Inc BX.

After the launch of Disney+, Mayer was a likely successor to Iger, but Bob Chapek became the leader instead.

Iger's retirement has been delayed multiple times during his original 15-year tenure as chief, and he will now step down in 2026 at the age of 75 due to a two-year contract extension.

Mayer and Staggs will also work with ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro to explore strategic options for the sports channel, which has been declining along with other U.S. cable networks.

ESPN, which was once a significant profit driver for Disney, has experienced a decline along with other cable networks in the U.S. To address this, Iger restructured ESPN as a standalone unit and expressed a desire to seek a strategic partner for the sports channel. 

Also, the Disney board has appointed a four-person committee, led by Mark Parker, the former Nike, Inc NKE chief and current chair of Disney's board, to find Iger's successor.

Potential internal candidates for the CEO position include Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, film chief Alan Bergman, and theme park head Josh D'Amaro.

Price Action: DIS shares traded higher by 1.15% at $87.12 premarket on the last check Monday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.