Disney’s CEO and others have stepped down: The conspiracy theories

While everyone was in quarantine, at least twenty-one CEOs have stepped down, including Bob Iger, the longtime CEO of Disney. In the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation and the arrest of his partner Ghislaine Maxwell, people on the internet are speculating if they’re connected. 

Epstein had a number of wealthy connections, including CEOs and political figures. His home in Palm Beach was also near properties associated with these CEOs, including Walt Disney World. While there’s no apparent connection between the happiest place on earth and Epstein, could there be one between him and Bob Iger? 

Other sources speculate that the reason Disney’s CEO and others stepped down was due to COVID. These sources point out that seventeen CEOs stepped down in thirty days around the same time lockdown happened across the US. 

Conspiracy theorists allege that these CEOs funded COVID for some reason. Whether it was to distract from Epstein’s sex ring, tank the economy to make someone look bad, microchip everyone, or bring up the myriad of conspiracy theories about Disney and other companies is unclear. 

Epstein or COVID? 

Jeffrey Epstein was first charged with sexual assault back in the 2000s. His connections began distancing themselves from him then, including Limited Brands CEO and longtime friend of Epstein’s Leslie Wexner. He stepped down earlier this year in part due to his connections to Epstein. 

There are no obvious connections between CEO Bob Iger and Jeffrey Epstein. There are conspiracy theories lobbed at Disney that are similar to the real charges against Epstein. Mainly, the conspiracies involve Disney running a satanic sex cult, rumors that started decades ago. They were fueled by the Satanic Panic in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Twitter’s list of CEO resignations

The conspiracy mill, per usual, is vague about the charges against the number of CEOs stepping down. Since most of them were announced in early 2020, COVID is the culprit du jour, particularly that companies like Disney funded COVID in a secret lab, and CEOs are scrambling to resign before they’re caught. 

Amid the rumors of Disney CEO Bob Iger and others fleeing their posts due to COVID, a tweet emerged with the names of 19 CEOs and their companies who reportedly resigned from their posts due to the COVID outbreak. The conspiracy behind the suspicion was that these CEOs possibly funded COVID to implement mind control or microchipping. 

With some fact-checking from Reuters, only ten of the nineteen CEOs on that list resigned after COVID went public. Other CEOs announced their resignation years ago. Of the ten, their resignations were due to other factors, such as mergers, independent of COVID. 

Business as usual? 

According to sources, January is a major time for CEO departures, as is the entire first quarter. It could be coincidental that CEO departures coincided with COVID. 

As far as Iger, he announced his plans to resign as Disney’s CEO around Thanksgiving last year. Similarly, many other CEOs on Twitter’s list announced plans to leave last fall before COVID was made public. 

For conspiracy theorists, it’s suspicious that a mass exodus from CEO positions started right before COVID was discovered in Wuhan, China. However, CEO resignations are increasing due to a growing number of mergers and buyouts. 

Bad timing? 

The timing of at least a dozen CEO resignations came around the coronavirus outbreak in the US. Some were announced beforehand, like Hulu CEO Randy Freer. The reason Hulu’s CEO stepped down was due to Hulu’s merge with Disney which had been planned since December 2019, just before COVID-19 went public. 

Similarly, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates stepped down a long time ago to focus on his humanitarian pursuits like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That this foundation is currently pursuing a vaccine against COVID has conspiracy theorists looking at them just as much as Disney. 

Why did Bob Iger step down? 

Bob Iger became the CEO of Disney after Michael Eisner was ousted. While Eisner was responsible for Disney’s rise out of the ashes via the Disney Renaissance, he became known for being difficult to work with. Plus, many of his ideas stopped panning out, leading to losses. After one failed project too many, Eisner resigned in 2005. 

Bob Iger, on the other hand, seems to be going out at the height of his career. Iger resigned after the construction of a Star Wars section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios and other profitable successes. He stated he wants to concentrate on the creative side of the company rather than the entire thing. 

While that could be true, Iger’s departure from Disney seems sudden – especially in light of his recent successful acquisitions and record profits. Given that his name was one of the more recognizable ones on Twitter’s list of resigning CEOs, the Disney conspiracies are popping up again.