Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS, ETR:WDP) ex-chief executive Bob Chapek has slated current boss Bob Iger’s thinking behind selling a stake in sports channel ESPN just weeks before shareholders will vote on the company’s leadership.
"Strategically, I don’t really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN," he told CNBC, after Iger signalled last year a stake could be sold ahead of the rollout of a new direct-to-consumer offering, expected in 2025.
Disney owns 80% of ESPN, with Iger having floated the idea of selling further shares in the sports channel to strengthen its content or technology offerings.
Chapek argued the move was possibly being mulled to bring in cash to allow Disney buyout Comcast’s stake in streaming service Hulu though, at the expense of part of the controlling holding in ESPN.
Instead, Chapek, who headed Disney for almost three years before being fired in 2022, said ESPN should effectively become a central directory for other sports streaming sites.
"How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world?" he questioned.
"I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it."
His comments come as Iger faces further pressure over Disney’s strategic direction ahead of an April 3 shareholder vote on the company’s board members.
This will determine whether activist investors Trian Fund Management and Blackwells Capital secure leadership roles at Disney, after each have built stakes in the company in recent years with the ultimate aim of gaining seats in its boardroom to reinvigorate what they see as a struggling firm.