Amaya Toman Disney CEO and former Apple board member Bob Iger has written a book that will be published next month. In connection with this, Iger gave an interview to Vanity Fair magazine, in which he shared, among other things, his memories of Steve Jobs. He was Iger's close friend.
When Bob Iger took over at Disney, the relationship between the two companies was strained. Jobs' disagreements with Michael Esiner were to blame, as was the termination of Disney's deal to release Pixar films. However, Iger managed to break the ice by praising the iPod and discussing iTunes as a TV platform. Iger recalls thinking about the future of the television industry and concluding that it was only a matter of time before it would be possible to access TV shows and movies through the computer. "I had no idea how fast mobile technology would evolve (the iPhone was still two years away), so I envisioned iTunes as a television platform, iTV," Iger says.
Jobs told Iger about iPod video and asked him to release Disney-produced shows for the platform, to which Iger agreed. This deal eventually led to a friendship between the two men and eventually a new deal between Disney and Pixar. But Jobs' insidious disease, which attacked his liver in 2006, came into play, and Jobs gave Iger time to back out of the deal. "I was devastated," admits Iger. "It was impossible to have these two conversations—about Steve facing imminent death and the deal we were about to make."
After the acquisition, Jobs underwent cancer treatment and served as a board member at Disney. He was also its largest shareholder and participated in a number of important decisions, such as the acquisition of Marvel. He became even closer to Iger over time. "Our connection was much more than a business relationship," Iger writes in his book.
Iger also admitted in the interview that with every success of Disney, he wishes Jobs was there and often talks to him in his spirit. He added that he believes that if Steve were still alive, either a Disney-Apple merger would have occurred or the two executives would have at least seriously considered the possibility.
Bob Iger's book will be called "The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company" and is available for pre-order now at Amazon.
Source: Vanity Fair
