Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Is Disney CEO Bob Iger Ready To Throw His Hat In The Presidential Ring?

Democrats may have to add another name to the list of potential 2020 presidential candidates.

Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger is being urged by fellow Hollywood executives to enter the race, Axios reported Friday. Iger, who is Jewish, told friends last month that he is willing to consider a bid for the Democratic nomination.

The driving force behind the move to recruit Iger is another Jewish Hollywood executive: Jeffrey Katzenberg, a major Democratic donor who ran Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994.

According to Axios, the Trump phenomenon has opened the door to wealthy businessmen and women, such as Iger, Oprah Winfrey and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, to feel comfortable contemplating running for office despite no formal political experience. But the report also notes that Iger is contractually committed to Disney until 2019 and may not have enough time to get a presidential campaign going.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.