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Thomas O. Staggs

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For people with a similar name, see Tom Stagg (disambiguation).

Thomas O. Staggs
Staggs on stage at the Disney Social Media Moms Conference
Staggs in 2014
Former COO of The Walt Disney Company
In office
5 February 2015 (2015-02-05) – 6 May 2016 (2016-05-06)
Preceded byBob Iger
Former CFO of The Walt Disney Company
In office
1998 (1998)–2010 (2010)
Preceded byRichard Nanula
Succeeded byJay Rasulo
Former Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products
In office
1 January 2010 (2010-01-01) – 5 February 2015 (2015-02-05)
Succeeded byBob Chapek
Personal details
Born1961 (age 62–63)[1][2]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota (BS)
Stanford University (MBA)
Signature

Thomas Owen Staggs[3] (born 1961) is an American business executive and investor. He is currently one of the co-founders and co-CEOs of Candle Media.[4] He formerly worked at The Walt Disney Company for nearly 27 years, beginning in 1990, working in finance and later becoming the chief financial officer (CFO), then as chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide and finally as chief operating officer (COO). He also holds directorships on various company boards, including Spotify.

Education and early life

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Staggs was born in Illinois and grew up in Minnesota. He graduated from Minnetonka High School in 1978,[5] and received a B.S. in business from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[6]

Career

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Staggs began his career as an investment banker for Dain Bosworth,[7] then Morgan Stanley before joining Disney in 1990.[3]

Disney

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After joining Disney in 1990, Staggs rose from his role as a manager of strategic planning to senior vice president of strategic planning and development in 1995.[8] Staggs became executive vice president and chief financial officer in 1998, and became Senior Executive Vice President and CFO in January 2000.[6] As CFO, Staggs was instrumental in purchasing Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006 as well as acquiring Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in 2009.[3]

On January 1, 2010, Staggs became Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, where he "more than doubled operating profits, to $2.66 billion",[3] while overseeing the company's roughly 140,000 cast members,[9][10] theme parks, two cruise lines, and hotel and resort businesses.[11] Staggs led the development of the MyMagic Plus technology suite[12] and the creation of an Avatar theme land in Disney's Animal Kingdom park.[13] Disney CEO Bob Iger credited Staggs with leading "unprecedented growth and expansion, including the construction of Shanghai Disney",[14][15] its $5.5 billion resort.[16]

On February 5, 2015, Staggs was named chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Company.[17][18] Despite "Disney’s rocky history of succession",[3] Staggs was then widely reported as heir apparent to Bob Iger as the Disney CEO.[19][20][21]

On April 4, 2016, Disney announced that Staggs and the company had agreed to mutually part ways. Staggs stepped down as COO, effective May 6, 2016, remaining with the company as a "Special Advisor to the CEO" Bob Iger through the end of the fiscal year.[22][23][24][25][26] Iger extended his contract as Disney's chairman and CEO to remain chairman through 2021.[27][28][29][30] Following his departure from Disney, and prior to its August 2019 merger with Viacom, Staggs was in consideration to succeed Les Moonves as CEO of CBS.[31]

In July 2023, Staggs along with another previous executive Kevin Mayer, returned to Disney in an advisory role at the behest of CEO Bob Iger.[32]

Forest Road

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In October 2020, Staggs helped form special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Forest Road Acquisition Corp as a director, teaming with former Disney colleague Kevin Mayer,[33] and the Forest Road Company (FRC), of which he is an original investor and advisory board member. Other board members and advisors of Forest Road Acquisition Corp include FRC founder Zachary Tarica, Shaquille O'Neal, Mark Burg and Martin Luther King III.[34][35] FRC is a "full-service provider" to the independent film industry, loaning funds against state film tax credits.[36] FRC began public trading on November 25, 2020 (NYSE:FRX),[37] and was reported that month to have raised more than $US300 million.[36] In February 2021, an agreement for a three-way merger between Forest Road Acquisition Corp, Myx Fitness Holdings and Beachbody was entered into.[38][39]

Candle Media

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In 2021, Staggs and Kevin Mayer founded Candle Media, which was created from their previous SPAC. Candle Media has engaged in ten acquisitions, which includes Reese Witherspoon's company 'Hello Sunshine' and Moonbug Entertainment, which produces the popular children's television series Cocomelon.[40]

Board memberships

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Since leaving Disney, Staggs has been an active investor and advisor for various companies. He is also a member of the board of directors of Spotify[41][42]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas O. Staggs.
  1. ^ Dun & Bradstreet (May 6, 2010). "Disney Enterprises, Inc. et al v. Hotfile Corp. et al - Exhibit B" (PDF). Justia. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  2. ^ "Eisner's Mousetrap Disney's CEO says the company has a lot of varied problems he can fix. But what if the real issue is something he can't face? - September 6, 1999".
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnes, Brooks (April 25, 2015). "Thomas Staggs: Disney's Heir, Apparently". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  4. ^ "Our Team - Candle Media".
  5. ^ "2012 Minnetonka Alumni Awardsm4v". YouTube. October 11, 2012. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Tom Staggs Bio" (PDF). The Walt Disney Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 23, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  7. ^ "U of M Alum Named COO at Disney". University of Minnesota. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  8. ^ "Thomas Staggs Profile - Forbes.com". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 27, 2007.
  9. ^ Sharma, Vivek (May 22, 2020). "Crisis Leadership – 8 Lessons from 8 Global Leaders". ceoworld.biz. CEOworld Magazine. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  10. ^ Hamedy, Saba (February 5, 2015). "5 things to know about Thomas Staggs, Disney's new No. 2 executive". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  11. ^ "InStride Adds Former Disney and Michaels Senior Executives to Its Advisory Board". apnews.com. AP News. March 27, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  12. ^ Carr, Austin. "The messy Business of Reinventing Happiness". fastcompany.com. Fast Company. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  13. ^ Carr, Austin. "Tom Staggs". fastcompany.com. Fast Company. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  14. ^ James, Meg. "Thomas Staggs named chief operating officer at Walt Disney Co". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  15. ^ Hobbs, Priscilla (2015). Walt's Utopia: Disneyland and American Mythmaking. McFarland. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-7864-9836-9. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  16. ^ Stewart, James B. "Behind the Scenes at Disney as It Purged a Favorite Son". nyt.com. The New York Times. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  17. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (February 5, 2015). "Disney Promotes Tom Staggs to No. 2 Post, Positioning Him as Iger's Successor". Variety.com. Variety Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  18. ^ Fritz, Ben. "How Disney COO Tom Staggs Sees the Company's Present—and Future". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  19. ^ Miller, Daniel; James, Meg (February 5, 2015). "At Disney, Staggs' elevation puts him as front-runner to succeed Iger as CEO". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  20. ^ Cynthia Littleton (February 5, 2015). "Disney Promotes Tom Staggs to No. 2 Post, Positioning Him as Iger's Successor". Variety.
  21. ^ Lev-Ram, Michal (February 5, 2015). "Will Tom Staggs be the next CEO of Disney?". Fortune.
  22. ^ Barnes, Brooks (April 5, 2016). "Thomas Staggs, Disney's Heir Apparent, Is Stepping Down". The New York Times.
  23. ^ Miller, Daniel (April 4, 2016). "Thomas Staggs, Disney's No. 2 executive, is leaving company". Los Angeles Times.
  24. ^ Byers, Dylan (April 4, 2016). "Disney's No. 2 exec Thomas Staggs leaving company". CNNMoney.
  25. ^ Robehmed, Natalie (April 4, 2016). "Disney COO Thomas Staggs Steps Down From The Mouse House". Forbes.
  26. ^ The Walt Disney Company (April 4, 2016). "Statement from The Walt Disney Company".
  27. ^ Graser, Marc (October 2, 2014). "Bob Iger to Remain Disney Chief through 2018". Variety. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  28. ^ Fritz, Ben (October 2, 2014). "Disney Extends CEO Bob Iger's Contract Until 2018". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  29. ^ "Disney extends CEO Iger's contract by a year to July 2019". Reuters. March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  30. ^ Kilday, Gregg (March 29, 2017). "Disney's Dilemma: Can Bob Iger Ever Find a Successor?". The Hollywood Reporter.
  31. ^ Flint, Joe; Glazer, Emily. "CBS Shifts to Hunt for Next Chief Executive". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  32. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (July 31, 2023). "Disney CEO Bob Iger Taps Kevin Mayer, Tom Staggs As Consultants; Former Disney Executives Are Co-CEOs Of Candle Media". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  33. ^ Franklin, Joshua. "Former Disney executives Mayer and Staggs plan new SPAC - source". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  34. ^ Wepring, Alex. "Former Disney Execs Tom Staggs, Kevin Mayer Teaming With Shaquille O'Neal on Media/Entertainment SPAC". hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  35. ^ Flint, Joe. "Shaq, MLK's Son, Former Disney Executives Team Up to Create SPAC". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  36. ^ a b Thompson, Simon. "Forest Road And The Multimillion-Dollar Art Of Maximizing Film Tax Credits". Forbes. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  37. ^ Palmeri, Christopher. "Former Disney Executives Turn Into L.A.'s Hottest Dealmakers". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  38. ^ Goldsmith, Jill. "Forest Road SPAC With Former Disney Execs Kevin Mayer, Tom Staggs Buying Digital Fitness Group Beachbody". Deadline Hollywood. Deadline. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  39. ^ FAUGHNDER, Ryan. "The Wide Shot: Why Hollywood is obsessed with SPACs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  40. ^ Maas, Jennifer (January 6, 2023). "Candle Media CEOs Talk Expanding 'CoComelon' Franchise, TikTok's Future and Iger Returning to 'Right the Ship' at Disney".
  41. ^ "Governance". spotify.com. Spotify Technology SA. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  42. ^ Garrahan, Matthew (May 25, 2017). "Spotify adds four board directors ahead of US listing". Financial Times. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
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