Few people would mistake Albuquerque as the happiest place on Earth.
But the city -- the setting (if not the actual filming location) for the fictional East High from one of Walt Disney Co.'s hottest franchises, "High School Musical" -- seemed an appropriate place for President and Chief Executive Robert Iger to tout the year's accomplishments to shareholders.
The reserved yet affable Iger has plenty to celebrate. The annual return to shareholders over the last five years was 15.3% -- outperforming the annual average for the Standard & Poor's 500. And despite worries about a slowing economy, Disney's operating profit at its media networks, parks and resorts, and consumer product groups grew by double digits in its most recent quarter.
Creatively, it's also on a roll. Disney walked away from the Academy Awards with the best picture honor for its Miramax Films' "No Country for Old Men," and a best animated feature nod to "Ratatouille."
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett singled out Iger as one of the country's best CEOs, noting in a CNBC interview Monday how he had done "an absolutely terrific job since coming in a couple years ago. It's not an easy company to manage, and he's done a first-class job."
Iger credited the people around him, telling shareholders Thursday, "The success of our company rests, more than anything else, on the commitment of our 137,000 employees and cast members."
When Iger succeeded Michael Eisner as chief executive in October 2005, after serving as Eisner's No. 2 for five years, critics knocked him for lacking creative vision. Some faulted his role in overseeing the then-struggling ABC and saw him as damaged goods because of his close ties to Eisner, whom shareholders had rebuked with a 45% no-confidence vote in March 2004.
But Iger proved precisely the balm Disney needed after the tumultuous, autocratic final Eisner years. He immediately set to work repairing relationships, starting with Pixar Animation Studios Chairman Steve Jobs, who had broken off talks with the company after a bitter falling out with Eisner, and was actively courting other studio deals.
Investors say Disney's $7.4- billion acquisition of Pixar in 2006 got Iger's tenure off to a great start. It shored up Disney's struggling animation division and assured that Pixar's characters would continue to nourish Disney's theme parks, consumer product division and home video business.
