Op-Ed: He Should Get the Most Coveted CEO Job in America

The most coveted CEO shoes to fill in America belong to Bob Iger, who will announce the eighth person to run Disney next year. Much of the chatter has focused on internal candidates, but David Lidsky at Fast Company points to the unlikely name of AirBnb CEO Brian Chesky as Iger's obvious successor. Calling the 43-year-old "a generational talent," Lidsky makes his case that Chesky is the man for Disney's moment, in which it sees its entertainment business stagnating and its Experiences division (think theme parks, cruises, hotels, etc.) showing solid profits and explosive potential. Chesky is the architect of "the most innovative, disruptive hospitality company to emerge since, what, Holiday Inn in 1952?"

But that's just scratching the surface, Lidsky contends. Chesky is a natural showman, which is critical in the role, and a proponent of operating in "founder mode"—that is, maintaining that startup mentality in which you are "willing to be in the details, pushing people to think bigger, and having a direct connection to the leaders in charge of every part of the company." Further, Chesky, who is "Silicon Valley royalty," has the tech chops to help Disney carve out a viable digital future, an area where it has repeatedly and publicly stumbled (Iger considered and failed to buy Snap, Spotify, and Twitter). Lidsky also has a perhaps less-flattering moniker for Chesky: "cockroach." When COVID hit, AirBnb saw 80% of its business disappear into the ether. Yet Chesky engineered a swift turnaround that saw a successful IPO in December 2020. Read the full piece here.