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   From: gay.plague@disney.com   
      
   For years, Walt Disney Co. adhered to a carefully orchestrated   
   process to choose a successor to Chairman and Chief Executive   
   Robert Iger.   
      
   In 2015, the Burbank company elevated longtime executive Thomas   
   Staggs to the No. 2 role, a move widely interpreted as anointing   
   him CEO in waiting of the world's largest entertainment firm.   
      
   But those plans were cast aside Monday, when Disney announced   
   that Staggs would step down from his role as chief operating   
   officer next month.   
      
   Disney's board of directors was not yet prepared to make a final   
   decision regarding the CEO selection, and Staggs "read the tea   
   leaves," said one person close to the company who was not   
   authorized to comment publicly.   
      
   One issue for Disney's board may have been Staggs' lack of a   
   serious creative pedigree, people close to the company said.   
      
   Staggs headed the company's parks and resorts division from 2010   
   to 2015 — a tenure that included the launch of MyMagic+ to allow   
   visitors to more efficiently tour attractions — but has no other   
   experience leading a unit that churns out entertainment content.   
      
   Although Staggs was widely viewed as Iger's heir apparent,   
   Disney never guaranteed Staggs, 55, the top job and made clear a   
   year ago that his work would be evaluated by the board. Iger,   
   65, is expected to leave the company when his contract ends in   
   June 2018.   
      
   Nonetheless, the move stunned investors as well as executives   
   inside and outside the Disney empire.   
      
   "I'm shocked," said Jim Cora, a former chairman of Disneyland   
   International who left in 2001 and has since consulted for the   
   company. "Whatever happened sure happened quietly."   
      
   Staggs' impending departure prolongs an already drawn-out   
   succession process. After former Chief Financial Officer Jay   
   Rasulo was passed over for the No. 2 job last year, he left the   
   company.   
      
   "It doesn't look good to lose two people within your   
   organization," Cora said.   
      
   Now Disney will search for new candidates to succeed Iger. With   
   the notable exception of former Chairman and Chief Executive   
   Michael Eisner, Disney usually selects its chief executive from   
   within. But the departures of Staggs and Rasulo make it more   
   likely that Disney would have to turn to an outside executive to   
   find a person capable of handling such a complicated job,   
   analysts said.   
      
   "These are high-level skills, dealing with complex issues in a   
   $160-billion market cap company," said Laura Martin, an analyst   
   at Needham & Co. "It is a short list of people who can do that   
   job."   
      
   Among the executives who've already been mentioned as possible   
   candidates is Sheryl Sandberg, the powerhouse Facebook chief   
   operating officer and a Disney board member.   
      
   Sandberg, 46, has the kind of resume that might be useful at   
   Disney, especially as the Internet becomes an increasingly   
   important entertainment portal. Before joining Facebook as chief   
   operating officer, the Harvard graduate was a top executive at   
   Google. She also has Washington experience — serving as chief of   
   staff to former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers — a   
   valuable asset for a company with a big media portfolio.   
      
   Sandberg helped shepherd Facebook through its 2012 initial   
   public offering of stock, one of the biggest IPOs of all time.   
   She also is known for her 2013 bestseller, "Lean In: Women,   
   Work, and the Will to Lead."   
      
   A Facebook representative said Sandberg was unavailable to   
   comment.   
      
   Running Disney is considered one of the plum jobs in corporate   
   America and could attract any number of high-profile executives   
   such as Steve Burke — the chief executive of NBCUniversal and a   
   former Disney executive — and former top Fox executive Peter   
   Chernin.   
      
   People close to Chernin and Burke said it was unlikely that   
   either executive would trade their current positions to run   
   Disney.   
      
   The Staggs announcement comes at a critical time for Disney,   
   which in June will open its $5.5-billion Shanghai Disney Resort,   
   a project that the executive worked on over several years.   
      
   Staggs will leave his post in May but remain at the company as   
   an advisor to Iger through its fiscal year, which ends Oct. 1.   
      
   Disney said in a statement that its board of directors would   
   "broaden the scope of its succession planning process to   
   identify and evaluate a robust slate of candidates for   
   consideration."   
      
   The move sent the company's stock down nearly 1.75% to $96.95 in   
   after-hours trading. Analysts said they'd gotten to know Staggs   
   well over his 26-year career at Disney, especially during his 12-   
   year tenure as chief financial officer.   
      
   "Tom Staggs is Wall Street's fair-haired boy," Martin said. "I   
   think it is shocking that the board, after stringing him along …   
   is doing this to him."   
      
   Analyst Robin Diedrich of Edward Jones Research said Disney's   
   board could want a CEO well versed not only in content creation   
   but also technology.   
      
   "Disney is very focused on the creative side of the business —   
   which really is the driving force — and the technology side as   
   well," Diedrich said. "As you look at Mr. Staggs, his skill set   
   has been operations and financial."   
      
   Staggs and Iger declined to comment.   
      
   Iger, who became chief executive in 2005, will be a tough act to   
   follow for any executive who replaces him. Iger engineered the   
   purchases of Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, Marvel   
   Entertainment in 2009 and Lucasfilm in 2012. Those multibillion-   
   dollar deals transformed Disney, sending the company's stock   
   soaring to record highs while providing it with a trove of new   
   content to pump through its many ventures.   
      
   "There are questions as to whether there are people able to fill   
   Bob Iger's shoes," said Stephen Unger, a veteran executive   
   recruiter who has led CEO searches for IMAX Entertainment,   
   Telemundo and Public Broadcasting System. "But as far as   
   indispensable people are considered, as the saying goes, the   
   cemeteries are filled with indispensable people. I'm sure Disney   
   will find someone fantastic."   
      
   Iger praised Staggs in a statement Monday, calling his longtime   
   colleague a "great friend."   
      
   "I'm proud of what we've accomplished together, immensely   
   grateful for the privilege of working with him and confident   
   that he will be enormously successful in whatever opportunity he   
   chooses," Iger said.   
      
   According to Disney's proxy statement, Staggs' total   
   compensation for fiscal 2015 was $20 million.   
      
   This isn't the first time that Disney's succession plans have   
   created turmoil at the company. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former   
   chairman of Disney's film studio, had a bitter falling-out with   
   Eisner after being passed over for the job of president, and   
   left the company in 1994. Eisner's hiring of super-agent Michael   
   Ovitz as president in 1995 unraveled after a little more than a   
   year.   
      
   daniel.miller@latimes.com   
      
   Twitter: @DanielNMiller   
      
   http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-   
   disney-staggs-20160405-story.html   
      
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