Book SummaryThe Ride of a Lifetime, by Bob Iger

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Ride of a Lifetime

Bob Iger has had a long career—22 years at ABC, then 23 at Disney (after Disney acquired ABC). He started as a bottom-level crew member on television sets and eventually became CEO of Disney for 15 years. He led Disney through momentous changes in technology, global expansion, and its noted acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. He still looks back at his career in mild disbelief as an incredible, lucky ride of a lifetime.

This book is a retelling of his professional career, with his leadership principles woven in. We’ll give an overview of his career, then focus on his major leadership principles.

Bob Iger’s Career

Bob Iger’s Childhood

Bob Iger grew up working-class on Long Island, NY. He lived with his sister, younger by 3 years, his mother (a stay-at-home mom), and his father, a Navy veteran who flitted between advertising jobs. He never thought of their family as poor, but only as an adult did he realize how threadbare their finances were.

His father struggled with bipolar disorder and constantly viewed himself as a failure. Bob was determined not to end up like his father—Bob didn’t want to see his own life as failure—and he worked hard and strove to achieve. Through high school and college, he worked hard, determined to achieve some kind of success and escape disappointment. Throughout his career, Bob would have a habit of accepting every opportunity, even if he felt unprepared; he wanted to move up, learn more, and be capable of doing more things.

Bob’s Start in Television

After college, Iger worked for a year as a reporter and weatherman for a small Ithaca TV station. He’d once dreamed of becoming a big-time news anchorman, but his mediocrity at the job convinced him to try something else.

In 1973, at 23, he moved to Manhattan and got a job as a studio supervisor at ABC. It paid $150 per week and was the very bottom of the totem pole. His job was to do anything needed to get shows ready for airing, including showing up at 4:30 AM to let the stagehands onto the set, checking on catering, and keeping the staff happy however he could.

This was a pivotal experience for the young Bob Iger. He learned how shows of all kinds were made, from soap operas to news shows to game shows. He learned to work with all kinds of television staff, from makeup artists to electricians to carpenters. Most importantly, the grueling hours and workload developed a flinty work ethic that stays with him today.

Moving to ABC Sports

ABC Sports was a star department at ABC. They produced hit shows like Monday Night Football and Wide World of Sports, and they had exclusive coverage of the Olympics.

The president of ABC Sports was Roone Arledge, a legend in broadcasting. Roone changed sports broadcasting to focus on the human drama inherent in sports. He also embraced technology under his catchphrase, “innovate or die.”

Roone Arledge was also a perfectionist. He was unwilling to accept “good enough” and demanded greatness. He knew everything about his production and examined minute details, often requesting major overhauls the night before the broadcast. Roone also didn’t accept excuses—if you came to him saying something couldn’t be done, he’d push you to find another way.

Here Iger honed his own hunger for greatness and learned to question what could be possible. For instance, Iger led the first broadcast team into North Korea in decades to film a table tennis championship. The harsh State Department and US sanctions would have turned away anyone but Roone and the people who worked for him.

Acquired by Capital Cities, Moving Up

In 1985, Bob was 34 years old and, after spending 12 years at ABC, was a vice president at ABC Sports. That year, ABC was acquired by a company called Capital Cities Communication for $3.5 billion. This was an acquisition where a minnow swallowed a whale—ABC was four times as large as Capital Cities.

Capital Cities was run by two savvy business operators, Tom Murphy (CEO) and Dan Burke (COO). Despite their operational shrewdness, Tom and Dan were folksy, down-to-earth people who instilled admirable values in ABC: authenticity and low egos; respect and empathy to their staff; a decentralized management structure that gave business units autonomy.

Iger had a senior role in the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the success of that event caught Tom and Dan’s eye. A few weeks after the Olympics, Tom and Dan promoted Bob to executive vice president of ABC Television, the number two job at ABC TV.

This wasn’t the end—in 1989, Tom and Dan fired the head of ABC Entertainment and offered Iger the job. This was another big promotion—he’d be in charge of picking new primetime shows and become a major creative force in the company. Despite his hesitation that he didn’t know how to read scripts and pick good shows, Iger had a habit of saying yes to major opportunities, and he packed up his family and moved from New York to Los Angeles for the job.

Twin Peaks

As head of ABC Entertainment, Bob Iger’s job was to catch up to the prime-time leader, NBC. ABC had a few well-performing shows, like Roseanne and The Wonder Years, but NBC was far ahead, with their hits in The Cosby Show, Cheers, and LA Law.

More specifically, Iger’s job was to greenlight shows that would be ABC’s next big hits. But since he didn’t come from Hollywood, the entertainment elite viewed him with skepticism and saw him as a bland suit from New York. Iger admitted he was clueless and sought help from his lieutenants, who were veterans in television. With their help, he learned to read scripts, and he realized he had already developed a knack for understanding what made for good television.

When stepping into the role, Iger knew that big changes were happening in television, and ABC needed to adapt. Notably, cable television had greater creative license to show edgier content. Iger knew that ABC needed to take risks.

So when the...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Prologue

In June 2016, Bob Iger had been CEO of the Walt Disney Company for 11 years. He was now in China, ready to unveil Shanghai Disneyland, the culmination of 18 years of planning and work. Even among all of Disney’s gigantic projects, Shanghai Disneyland stood out—it cost $6 billion to build, was 11 times the acreage of Disneyland, and required countless negotiations with the Chinese government. Opening the park was meant to be a joyous event, a union of Disney’s ever-popular magic with an authentic Chinese flavor. Just as millions of American children hoped of going to Disneyland, now a new generation of Chinese children would have the same joy.

It wasn’t going to be smooth. Two tragedies would occur in quick succession that tested Iger’s composure.

First, the Sunday night before the unveiling, the Orlando nightclub shooting occurred just miles from Disney World, killing over 50 people. Concerned about whether any Disney staff were among the victims, Iger’s team quickly phoned the security team in Orlando to stay updated. They’d learn a few days later that two part-time Disney employees were killed, and other employees were friends of victims. Their trauma...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Part 1: Learning | Chapter 1: The Bottom

Iger starts the recounting of his journey with brief aspects of his childhood and his early start at ABC.

Bob Iger’s Childhood

Iger grew up working-class on Long Island, NY. He lived with his sister, younger by 3 years, his mother (a stay-at-home mom), and his father, a Navy veteran who flitted between advertising jobs. He never thought of their family as poor, and only as an adult did he realize how threadbare their finances were.

Iger comments on his father’s influence most:

• He instilled a curiosity of the world in Bob by prompting him to read through their full bookshelves.
• He had strong political views, often on the side of the underdog, and had difficulty not speaking out. This got him in trouble professionally.
• He had bipolar disorder, which gave rise to erratic moods. They never knew if his father would arrive home manic or depressed, and Iger and his mother suffered for it.
• He viewed himself as a failure, and he was determined to have Bob and his sister avoid the same fate. Thus, he constantly insisted that Bob and his sister use their time deliberately to achieve their goals.

Because of his father’s instability, Iger felt he had to be the...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 2: Being Acquired by Capital Cities

In 1985, Bob was 34 years old and, after spending 12 years at ABC, was vice president at ABC Sports. That year, ABC was acquired by a company called Capital Cities Communication for $3.5 billion. This was an acquisition where a minnow swallowed a whale—ABC was four times as large as Capital Cities.

Capital Cities was run by two savvy business operators, Tom Murphy and Dan Burke. The company had begun as a single TV station in Albany. Over time, they acquired station after station until they had assembled a large portfolio of TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers.

Their consistent strategy was to find a new TV station and increase profits by 1) investing in programming to raise revenue, and 2) cutting unnecessary costs. They’d then use the profits to acquire more stations. (Shortform note: Read more about the growth strategy of Capital Cities in our summary of The Outsiders.)

Capital Cities immediately went to work making changes at ABC. First they clamped down on perks, like executive limos and first-class flights. While some executives complained about the penny-pinching, in...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 3: Twin Peaks and Cop Rock

As head of ABC Entertainment, Bob Iger’s job was to catch up to the prime-time leader, NBC. ABC had a few well-performing shows, like Roseanne and The Wonder Years, but NBC was far ahead, with their hits in The Cosby Show, Cheers, and LA Law.

More specifically, Iger’s job was to greenlight shows that would be ABC’s next big hits. As the head of one of the big three networks, he was placed into one of the most powerful roles in television. The problem: he didn’t come from entertainment, and he didn’t know how to pick good scripts. Everyone in the industry knew this too, including the creators he was meant to greenlight, and they questioned his appointment and scrutinized his decisions.

Instead of posturing, Bob admitted how clueless he was and sought help from his number twos, Stu and Ted. They were veterans in television, and they warmly supported Bob, in large part because of how Bob didn’t come in acting like he knew it all. They taught Bob how to dissect scripts and find what was missing.

Management Principle: Admit When You Don’t Know

Continuing the theme of being authentic—be honest when you don’t know something. If you fake being more...

Shortform Exercise: Successes and Failures

Use Bob Iger’s experiences to think about your successes and failures.

Bob Iger felt that great successes only come with courage and risk. When did you take a risk outside your comfort zone, only to have it succeed?

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 4: Being Acquired by Disney

In spring 1995, soon after Bob Iger became COO of Capital Cities/ABC, Disney made clear it wanted to acquire the company. Michael Eisner, who had been Disney CEO since 1984, led the charge.

What motivated the acquisition?

• Despite being one of America’s most storied brands, Disney was also feeling the pressure of a changing media industry. Fierce competition in entertainment was driving smaller companies to be acquired, like Time Inc.’s purchase of Warner and Viacom’s purchase of Paramount. If Disney wanted to remain independent, it would need to become larger.
• Furthermore, Disney was entering a creative funk. While the late ‘80s and early ‘90s saw smash hits like Aladdin and The Lion King, the mid-90s saw commercially lackluster films like Atlantis, Fantasia 2000, and Tarzan.

With ABC, Disney would expand its reach to audiences through ABC’s many media properties, including ABC, television stations, ESPN, cable channels, newspapers, and magazines. Better yet, the businesses were run profitably, giving Disney a financial boost and allowing it to weather the more hit-driven entertainment business. And in return, Disney would benefit ABC with its famed...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 5: Second in Command

With Michael Ovitz gone, Bob Iger now reported to CEO Michael Eisner. But Eisner was reluctant to name anyone to be president or COO, and he ran the company without a formal number two.

Eisner treated Bob erratically, at one moment warm and confiding and at another cold and distant. At the root of this treatment seemed to be Eisner’s insecurity about grooming a successor who would potentially compete with him for the top job. (Shortform note: In our summary of business classic Good to Great, read about how mediocre leaders refuse to groom successors out of ego, while great leaders support their successors whole-heartedly.)

For his part, Iger was ambitious and wanted a shot at running Disney one day, but he was also respectful and patient. He had no intention of aggressively competing against Eisner. Instead, he wanted to do a great job in his current role and learn as much as he could about the company.

Management Principle: Be Ambitious, But Not Impatient

Ambition to take on more responsibility and rise up is valuable, but it can be stretched too far toward impatience. Some people focus so much on the...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 6: Eisner Is Fired

As COO of Disney, Bob Iger was responsible for Walt Disney International, consumer products, and the media networks like ABC and ESPN. Eisner continued control over Walt Disney Studios and Disney’s parks.

By this time, Disney was at risk of another decline. To understand why, we’ll need to understand what Eisner did for Disney to begin with.

Eisner’s Rise and Stumbles

CEO Michael Eisner had a remarkable rise and fall within Disney. When he joined in 1984, Disney was nowhere near the entertainment juggernaut it is today. The founder Walt Disney had died in 1966, and since then the company had entered a creative and financial malaise.

In response, board members Roy Disney (Walt’s nephew) and Sid Bass (Disney’s largest shareholder) hired Eisner to reverse the decline. Eisner revitalized Disney, partially by putting its abundant assets to work and partially by expanding their footprint:

• Taking advantage of VCR technology, he started selling classic Disney movies on videocassette.
• He raised ticket prices at Disney parks, gaining more revenue without impacting attendance.
• He hired Jeffrey Katzenberg and resuscitated Disney Animation, which produced hit...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 7: Iger Aims to Be CEO

The board began its CEO search, and Iger wanted the job. He didn’t feel entitled to it, but he did think he would do a good job.

He’d have to convince the board he was the right person, but his challenge was escaping his contributions to the decline of Disney. As COO for the past 5 years, he was clearly partially responsible for the decline. He could simply blame Michael Eisner for the troubles, but he saw this as a betrayal of Eisner and a cowardly excuse.

He soon got a solution from political consultant and brand manager Scott Miller. Miller argued that, as a member of the old guard, Iger could never win the vote as an incumbent. Rather, he needed to be an insurgent—the past didn’t matter anymore; only the future mattered. The message to the board should be: “We can’t change the past. We’ve learned lessons that we can apply, but we can’t redo our mistakes. What matters now is where we take this company from here. The soul of the company is at stake—we need to protect it and grow it. Here’s my plan for the future.”

To make his plan concrete, Miller also counseled Iger to outline his strategic priorities. Iger started listing priorities, when Miller cut him off, saying...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Part 2: Leading | Chapter 8: First Moves as CEO

New CEOs and politicians are watched closely during their “first 100 days” as an early indicator of their tenure. Since Eisner still had 6 months on the job, Iger thought he had some buffer time to plan his moves carefully.

This wasn’t the case. Upon the announcement that Iger would become CEO, the press, the public, and Disney employees started scrutinizing his actions. Many still believed that Disney had made a mistake, or that Iger was only a temporary solution until they found a real CEO from the outside.

Iger decided that his first 100 days would essentially start now, and he needed to establish the tone of his leadership. He focused on three key actions:

• Repair the relationship with Roy Disney: Fighting publicly with a Disney family member was a bad look.
• Repair the relationship with Pixar and Steve Jobs: Pixar was a key creative partner, and Steve was a messiah of technology. Partnering with both would be good for Disney.
• Change Disney’s reliance on Strat Planning for business decisions.

Repairing the Relationship With Roy Disney

As soon as Iger was appointed CEO, Roy Disney and Stanley Gold sued the board for running a fraudulent CEO selection...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 9: Acquiring Pixar | Steve Jobs

At the end of September 2005, Michael Eisner had his last day at Disney. A few days later, Bob Iger officially became only the sixth CEO of Disney.

Iger’s first priority was to resuscitate Disney Animation. The failure of the department to generate new hit movies was a big contributor to Disney’s financial malaise. Over the past decade, they had only produced lukewarm movies—The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Lilo and Stitch—a far cry from the iconic early 1990s blockbusters The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Over the past decade, Animation spent over a billion dollars making films but lost nearly $400 million.

Beyond their financial difficulties, Disney was losing ground with its core consumers. Iger asked his deputies to do market research on how their key demographic, mothers with children under twelve, felt about Disney relative to other competitors. The results were depressing: Pixar had overtaken Disney as “good for their family” and was the more beloved brand. No surprise—Pixar had recently produced the hits that Disney couldn’t, like Toy Story, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo.

If Disney couldn’t produce...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 10: Acquiring Marvel

Acquiring Pixar had settled the existential problem of Disney Animation. Emboldened by the ensuing success of Pixar, Disney continued studying other companies that could bring high-quality content into the Disney universe. Two companies were at the top of their list—Marvel and Lucasfilm (keeper of Star Wars). Both produced legendary characters and stories that Disney could extend further in film and television; in turn, this would fuel Disney’s consumer products and theme parks.

These weren’t new ideas. The possibility of acquiring these brands had been on Eisner’s radar as well, but both Disney and Eisner were too conservative to pull the trigger for a few reasons. For one, Disney was still driven by a sense of purity and was wary of adding outside brands and characters, especially those as edgy as Marvel’s superheroes. For another, Eisner had grown weary of governing his own acquisitions, including the entertainment studio Miramax—he had constant battles with the Weinstein brothers and the board over finances and creative control.

Now, though, Iger was open-minded and willing to take risks. Even though Pixar had worked out fantastically, the media industry was still...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapter 11: Acquiring Lucasfilm and Star Wars

Besides Marvel, Lucasfilm, the company founded by George Lucas and owner of Star Wars, was the other top pick.

Disney had a long-running relationship with Lucasfilm. In the 1980s, Eisner licensed Star Wars and Indiana Jones to build attractions at their theme parks. In 1992, after Twin Peaks became a creative phenomenon, Lucas pitched a show that would become The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. After a good opening, the ratings fell; ordinarily the show would have been canceled, but Iger gave them a second season since Lucas was doing his best and, after all, it was George Lucas.

Now, Iger wanted to approach Lucas about the possibility of an acquisition, but he had to be careful. Moreso than Pixar and Steve Jobs or Marvel and Ike Perlmutter, Lucasfilm was the baby of George Lucas. He founded the company and grew it over 40 years, and he created Star Wars, which was perhaps a generation’s defining mythology. Lucas’s life would be known for Star Wars, and Iger had to approach Lucas in a way that showed he understood that and would protect his legacy.

In May 2011, Lucas was visiting Orlando to launch the reopening of Star Wars attractions at Disney World,...

The Ride of a Lifetime Summary Chapters 12-14: Acquiring 21st Century Fox and Iger’s End as CEO

By 2016, Iger’s three big acquisitions were well underway and all looked like home runs. But this still didn’t feel like enough. Even though Disney had grown considerably, the technology and media landscape had changed even further. The massive technology companies of the day—Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix—commanded the attention of billions of consumers. All these companies were also investing heavily in creating their own content.

In this climate, Disney had two choices. First, it could simply continue business as usual—it could continue distributing films through movie theaters and shows through TV, and it could license its content to distributors like Netflix and Apple. However, Disney risked being made a commodity content producer, just one option among thousands. The tech behemoths would continue to gain power and consumer loyalty, and eventually Disney might have no choice but to be on these networks, meaning it’d lose all its negotiating leverage and lose its direct connection to consumers.

The other option was for Disney to control its own distribution to consumers, with no middlemen. This would require developing their own technology platform and...