Bob Iger returns to a more competitive and challenging streaming landscape and should steer Disney+ to profitability without cannibalizing Disney’s other units (Sarah Krouse/Wall Street Journal)

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Walt Disney Company’s board announces that Bob Chapek will step down as CEO, and Bob Iger will return to take his place, effective immediately  —  Disney’s board of directors announced the move Sunday evening.

Peter Kafka / Vox:
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company found that “a substantial portion” of Twitter’s users were “not real”, when Disney considered buying Twitter in 2016  —  Bots were fine.  Nastiness wasn’t.  —  Elon Musk wanted to buy Twitter.  Then he decided he didn’t.

Wall Street Journal:
Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney from 2005 to 2020, joins VC firm Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner, as a venture partner  —  As a venture partner, Iger will identify new investments and mentor founders in day-to-day role  —  Netflix Hit a Subscriber Peak, Here’s How It Plans to Keep Growing

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Disney explores a membership program similar to Amazon Prime, bundling streaming, theme parks, and merchandise, and adding commerce features to Disney+  —  Entertainment giant looks to package streaming, parks and merchandise offerings together; aims to add commerce feature to Disney+

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Mark Cuban’s interactive streaming app Fireside acquires streaming platform Stremium and plans to launch on smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and other devices  —  Mark Cuban-backed streaming app Fireside, which today offers podcasters and other creators a way to host interactive …

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Disney hit 235.7M global streaming subscribers in its Q4, above Netflix’s 223.1M in its Q3; Disney+ had 164.2M subscribers, Hulu had 47.2M, and ESPN+ had 24.3M  —  Disney reported results for the final quarter of its 2022 fiscal year today, revealing a total of 164.2 million Disney+ global subscribers …