CEO Bob Iger calls Disney-Apple sale rumours "pure speculation"

A week after returning as the CEO of entertainment giant The Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger has shut down the rumours about Apple acquiring the studio. He called it "pure speculation" and confirmed that he will not be heading any buyouts during his two-year tenure.

Since ex-CEO Bob Chapek was fired, the rumours about a buyout have been circulating. Iger was at the helm of Disney for 15 years and is known for broadening the roster of its intellectual properties. He is brought back to lead the studio once again back to growth.

He held the first company-wide meeting with employees to address questions about potential deal-making, hiring freeze, and quarterly earnings reports. He intends to continue the practice and considers it a wise move given the sector's challenges, reported The Hollywood Reporter. He also asked people to return to office as he believes there is "tremendous value in working from the same place in a creative business." He added that it creates an energy that is enabling creativity. A report in Variety said that employees were "ruffled" by the new mandate that called people to return to the office.

He also said the company needs to start prioritising revenue growth over subscriber count. "In order to achieve that, we have to take a very, very hard look at our cost structure across our businesses."

The returning CEO also addressed the company's controversial lack of response to Florida's Don't Say Gay bill. He said: "one of the core values of our storytelling is inclusion, acceptance, and tolerance. And we can't lose that, we just can't lose that… how we actually change the world through the good must continue. We're not going to make everyone happy all the time, and we're not [going to] try to. We're certainly not going to lessen our core values in order to make everyone happy all the time."