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Walt Disney Tasks Morgan Stanley's Gorman to Lead CEO Search

A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Walt Disney Tasks Morgan Stanley's Gorman to Lead CEO Search

A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Walt Disney on Wednesday named board member and Morgan Stanley executive chairman James Gorman to chair its succession planning committee, which is looking for a replacement to longtime CEO Bob Iger.

Disney won a months-long proxy war earlier this year with activist investor Nelson Peltz who argued the company had underperformed in the streaming-television era and criticized its succession planning.

The board has extended Iger's retirement date five times, including pulling him back from an initial retirement in 2022 to replace his hand-picked successor Bob Chapek, Reuters reported.

Last year, Iger, who was the CEO from 2005 to 2020 before his 2022 reappointment, said he would extend his stay through 2026 and "definitely" step down when his contract ends.

Gorman joined as a Disney director this year and oversaw the recent succession process at Morgan Stanley. He was its CEO from 2010 to 2023 and will be ceding his role as executive chairman at Disney in December.

"Succession planning is a top priority of the Board," Disney Chairman Mark Parker said. The company said it was reviewing internal and external candidates for the CEO position.

The company also said Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors and Calvin McDonald, CEO of Lululemon Athletica will continue to serve on the succession planning committee, which has met six times so far in fiscal 2024.

In addition, the board has discussed the search for the next CEO at all of its regularly scheduled meetings this year, Disney said.

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Microsoft Seeks to Win Over New Players at Gamer Gathering

General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo
General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo
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Microsoft Seeks to Win Over New Players at Gamer Gathering

General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo
General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

Microsoft held its biggest video game stand ever at the sector trade show Gamescom in Germany on Wednesday, aiming to win over players after several rocky months of studio closures and rising fees.
"We run a business. And it's definitely true inside of Microsoft, the bar is really high for us in terms of delivery that we have to give back to the company," Xbox chief Phil Spencer said during a live event at the show.
"There is a lot of pressure on the industry. It's been growing for a long time and now people are looking for ways to grow," he added, defending the US giant's strategy.
Microsoft took fans by surprise on Tuesday when announcing that its year-end blockbuster "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle", initially meant to be an exclusive for its Xbox console, would also be made available on rival Sony's PlayStation 5 in spring 2025, said AFP.
The decision follows a shift that began in February with four of its games being made available to rival consoles, marking a strategic turning point to attract players to Xbox with exclusive titles.
The move is aimed at increasing the profitability of its games amid flagging console sales.
'Big bet'
After completing in October the $69 billion takeover of gaming publisher Activision Blizzard, maker of gaming hits such as "Call of Duty" and "Candy Crush", Microsoft has faced a series of hurdles.
The takeover resulted in cuts of 1,900 jobs in January.
Then in May, Microsoft closed four studios of publisher Bethesda, which it acquired in 2020 as part of a $7.5 billion investment.
The announcement of the upcoming release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6", the first in the series to be available on Microsoft's platform Game Pass, coincided with an increase in service fees.
At the end of February, the service had about 34 million users, far short of its goal of reaching 100 million clients by 2030.
The move to release Call of Duty on Game Pass is Microsoft "pushing all of their chips in", said Mat Piscatella, an analyst for market research firm Circana. "This is their big bet."
Call of Duty's performance on the platform will determine the future of the formula and its viability, he said.
"I think it's evolving as the subscription market hasn't grown at the rate that some have expected," Piscatella said.
Microsoft also announced Wednesday that the new versions of its consoles unveiled in June, which include the Xbox Series X without a Blu-ray player, will be available from October 15.