By Yetunde Adeyeri
The Hollywood Reporter recently released a list of 100 most powerful people in Entertainment. And in a list of amazing actors, producers, and directors in the industry, Bob Iger tops the chart for the fourth year running. In a roller-coaster year of megamergers and megadeals, the ranking of showbiz’s top execs, makers and stars sees big moves and a more dynamic (and diverse) group of powerhouses as the Obamas join Netflix, Phoebe Waller-Bridge ignites the town’s creatives and J.Lo hustles her way onto the ultimate industry A list.
While Disney CEO Bob Iger retains his status as No. 1 (acquiring the $71.3 billion Fox assets and generating a record $8 billion at the box office make that choice an easy one), moving up on the list are figures from Shari Redstone (No. 4), who’ll see the Viacom-CBS merger she masterminded come to fruition this year, to Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige (No. 5), the most important Disney employee not named Iger, and Ava DuVernay (No.59), who jumps nearly 30 slots on the strength of her creative clout, Emmy nominations and leadership in Hollywood’s gender parity and inclusion efforts.
Hitting the list for the first time are Barack and Michelle Obama (No. 50), whose Higher Ground shingle is making waves via deals with Netflix and Spotify, along with Aquaman helmer James Wan (No. 80) and Hustlers star-producer Jennifer Lopez (No. 92). They’re all among the 32 new names shaking up the entertainment world — but perhaps no single figure has had more seismic impact than David Young (No. 93), executive director of the WGA West, who has led the guild’s fight with the talent agencies over affiliate production and packaging fees (and caused the agency leaders to tumble a few spots on the list.)
Not unlike Simba in The Lion King, nearly everything the light touches is Iger’s kingdom. The most powerful person in Hollywood (for the fourth year in a row) presides over the industry’s largest and most influential entertainment business, with a market cap of around $234 billion and an unrivaled collection of IP and brands.
And in 2019, Disney got a lot bigger. The March addition of $71.3 billion worth of 21st Century Fox assets positions the Mouse House as a content behemoth for the Streaming Wars, which may begin in earnest with the Nov. 12 launch of Disney+, Iger’s bold bet on the future of the 96-year-old company. Iger, 68, has convinced Disney investors that forgoing billions in TV licensing dollars will pay off with a global direct-to-consumer business featuring Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and Disney Animation films, plus original series like The Mandalorian and all 30 seasons of The Simpsons for $7 per month. Disney+, he says, “is going to be a priority for the foreseeable future for the company.”
In the meantime, Iger’s film studio has executed an unprecedented run at the box office: Disney has five of the year’s top 10 films and has brought in $8 billion in box office revenue, a new record, with Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker still to come. But the year hasn’t been without challenges, including layoffs that resulted from the integration of Fox assets, soft initial attendance at Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction, and a $353 million write-down on the company’s Vice investment.
Still, in modern Hollywood, there’s no one who mixes business vision with creative chops quite like Iger. Oh, and last month he became a best-selling author with his memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime. Indeed.
