Raphael Stevens

The U.S. News & World Report released its 13th annual ranking of the best hotels for travelers this week.
The rankings, published Tuesday, are based on three factors: the number of awards received from the travel industry, a hotel’s star rating, and guest reviews from the travel website Tripadvisor.

More weight was given to recipients of “highly selective” awards, as well as those with more traveler reviews, according to the press release. That makes it harder for new hotels to break into the upper ranks of the annual list.
The report ranks only “luxury” hotels and resorts, which U.S. News defines as those that consistently average from 4- to 5-star ratings, though it now includes select hotels with 3.5 stars too, the company said.
To be considered, hotels must also have at least 20 rooms, according to the release.

Best hotels in the U.S.

These are the top ranked hotels in the U.S.:

Acqualina Resort & Residences — Miami, Florida
The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort — Scottsdale, Arizona
Pendry West Hollywood — Los Angeles, California
The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort — Kiawah Island, South Carolina
The Inn & Club at Harbour Town, Sea Pines Resort — Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Miami’s Acqualina Resort & Residences took the top spot in the United States for the first time. It has three pools, ocean views and an award-winning spa.
U.S. News also published additional hotel rankings that can be searched by state or by city.
For example, travelers can search for the best hotels in California, or explore hotel rankings in 46 different towns and locations there, such as La Jolla, Disneyland and Napa Valley.
They can then filter hotels based on star ratings, price and amenities.
Best hotels in Europe
These are the top ranked hotels in Europe:

Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam — Amsterdam, Netherlands
Grand Hotel Tremezzo — Tremezzo, Italy
La Reserve Paris Hotel and Spa — Paris, France
The Goring — London, U.K.
The Connaught — London, U.K.

Last year’s No. 1 hotel, Le Bristol Paris, came in at No. 6 this year.
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam clinched the top spot in Europe for the first time. It comprises six canal-side mansions and houses a two-starred Michelin restaurant that specializes in vegetarian cuisine.

The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Amsterdam, comprises six connecting houses beside the Herengracht Canal.
Sebastiaan Kroes | Moment Open | Getty Images

Europe’s No. 2 hotel, the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, overlooks Italy’s famous Lake Como.
The U.S. News & World Ranking also ranks hotels in 39 European countries, from Albania to Wales.
Similar to the U.S. rankings, visitors can core into these rankings by “popular regions,” such as Capri, Cinque Terre and Venice in Italy.
Best hotels in the Caribbean
These are the top ranked hotels in the Caribbean:

Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel, Anguilla — Maundays Bay, Anguilla
Jumby Bay Island, Oetker Collection — Jumby Bay Island, Antigua
Jade Mountain Resort — Soufriere, St. Lucia
Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de France — Saint Barthelemy
Tortuga Bay Puntacana Resort & Club — Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The Caribbean’s best hotel, Cap Juluca, has dome-shaped villas with views of the ocean and direct access to the beach.

A view of St. Lucia’s Pitons mountains from the Jade Mountain Resort, which was ranked the third best hotel in the Caribbean in 2023 by the U.S. News & World Report.
Thomasfluegge | E+ | Getty Images

The No. 2 hotel, Antigua’s Jumby Bay Island, provides snorkeling expeditions and kayak tours for guests.

Other rankings

The U.S. News & World Report also published new rankings for in Canada, Mexico and Bermuda.
Separately, it also ranks all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico, which were topped by Jumby Bay Island, Oetker Collection and Grand Velas Los Cabos, respectively. More

Median rents in Manhattan hit a record in January, fueled by a strong job market and a tight supply of apartments.
The median rent rose 15% to $4,097 from the year-earlier month — the highest ever in January.
As more workers return to the office, more employees may also be moving back to the city.

A man enters a building with rental apartments available in New York City.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez | VIEW press | Corbis News | Getty Images

Median rents in Manhattan hit a new record in January as a strong job market and limited supply of apartments lifted prices.
The median rental price rose 15% to $4,097 from the year-earlier month — the highest ever in January, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. The average rent in Manhattan was $5,142, up 13% over January 2022.

Analysts and real estate experts had expected rents to start falling in January after record surges late last year. But despite a cooling economy and high-profile layoffs in finance and tech, rental demand in Manhattan remains strong.
“We’re not seeing rents fall in any meaningful way” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, a real estate appraisal and research company. “They’re really just moving sideways.”
Analysts say the main driver for Manhattan’s rental market is a strong job market. While layoffs at large tech companies and Wall Street banks have made headlines, the overall job market and wage growth remains strong in New York. As more workers return to the office, more employees may also be moving back to the city.
New leases in January surged 8% over December and rose 9% over January 2022 suggesting that while prices are high, renters are still willing to pay them.
At the same time, the inventory of available apartments, while rising, remains low. The vacancy rate — or share of apartments available for rent — was 2.5% last month, below the 3% rate that’s more typical for Manhattan, Miller said.

Joshua Young, executive vice president and managing director of sales and leasing at Brown Harris Stevens, said the rental strength is “a tale of two cities.”
He said there is strong demand for new high-quality rentals coming on the market in prime locations, creating limited supply of top apartments. At the same time, more and more potential apartment buyers are choosing to rent while they wait for sales prices to fall.
“They’re sitting and waiting in rentals until prices come down,” he said. “They don’t want to be the one who buys and overpays for a property that will be worth less in six months.”
Rental demand is especially high in luxury rentals, since many of the potential luxury buyers are choosing to rent. Nearly one in five luxury rentals in January led to a bidding war, Miller said.
Analysts say rents aren’t likely to come down much, if at all, in the coming months, unless the economy and job market loses steam.
“I believe 2023 will be just as strong as 2022 as far as the rental market [goes],” Young said.

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Singapore is set to remove mask-wearing on public transport from Monday, as it seeks to exit the “acute phase” of the pandemic, said the Ministry of Health.
“Our Covid situation has remained stable over the recent months, despite increased travel over the year and holidays and China’s shift from zero Covid,” said Singapore’s deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong, who is also co-chair of the Covid task force.

People gather outside the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on January 17, 2023. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Roslan Rahman | Afp | Getty Images

SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to allow non-fully vaccinated travelers to enter the country without a negative pre-departure test from next week, health authorities announced Thursday.
The country is set to remove mask-wearing on public transport from Monday, as it seeks to exit the “acute phase” of the pandemic, said the Ministry of Health.

The country’s Covid task force, created in January 2020, will be deactivated.
“Our Covid situation has remained stable over the recent months, despite increased travel over the year and holidays and China’s shift from zero Covid,” said Singapore’s deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong, who is also co-chair of the Covid task force.
“Our population has developed a high level of hybrid immunity. The risk of infections leading to severe illness or deaths is very low — comparable to other endemic respiratory diseases like influenza.”
The further relaxation of pre-departure travel and mask requirements are “significant steps” that mark Covid-19 as an endemic and “new norm” for Singapore.

Changes to travel

All travelers entering Singapore via air or sea must still to submit a health declaration before or on arrival, said the ministry.

In addition to removing the need to show proof of a negative pre-departure test, short-term visitors will also not be required to buy Covid travel insurance.
Previously, non-fully vaccinated visitors were required to test negative for Covid within 2 days prior to their departure for Singapore.
While travelers who are not fully vaccinated can now enter Singapore without pre-departure tests, vaccinated travel lanes will remain “for reactivation,” should there be international developments of concern such as new variants, authorities said.

Singapore is set to allow non-fully vaccinated travelers to enter the country without a negative pre-departure test from Feb. 13, 2023.
Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

Singapore opened vaccinated travel lanes in April 2022 to facilitate safe resumption of international travel.
After locking down large parts of the city-state and ramping up travel and dining restrictions at the start of the pandemic in 2020, Singapore began lifting most of its Covid restrictions in April.
Further Covid measures were eased at the end of August, as authorities removed indoor mask requirements and allowed non-fully vaccinated travelers to skip quarantine on arrival.

Mask-wearing rules ease

Mask-wearing on public transport and indoor health settings will no longer be mandatory, but Wong encouraged the public to continue wearing masks if they showed any symptoms.
However, mask-wearing is still required be in places like hospital wards, clinics and nursing homes, where there is “interaction with patients” and “indoor patient-facing areas,” the health ministry said.
“This is to better protect patients and healthcare workers from infectious diseases in general,” it added.
The Ministry of Health said that private enterprises may also choose to maintain mask-wearing requirements as company policy for workplace health and safety, or “business continuity reasons.”
Singapore reported 377 cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, with infections continuing to fall from a record 26,032 cases nearly a year ago on Feb. 22.
Most of those infected in Singapore have had mild or no symptoms.

Back to pre-pandemic levels

Singapore will further downgrade its disease outbreak response, bringing it back to pre-pandemic levels.
As such, Singapore’s Multi-Ministry Taskforce — formed in January 2020 in response to Covid-19 — will also stand down.

The framework, known locally as Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON), will be adjusted to green from yellow. That indicates the disease is mild and there is minimal disruption to daily life.
The color-coded system starts from green at the lowest level, to yellow, orange and red — the highest risk level. At the height of the pandemic, Singapore raised the level to orange.

Vaccination progress

According to the Ministry of Health, around 92% of the population has completed the primary vaccination series as of January, while 83% has “minimum protection” — which refers to the primary series and first booster shot.
As of Feb. 7, only 48% has received up-to-date vaccination, which means receiving a second booster dose between five months to one year from the first.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said the “availability of effective vaccines” was a “turning point” for the Covid situation in Singapore.
“Our high vaccination coverage is one of the key reasons why we progressively restore normal lives … and [arrive] at today’s DORSCON green, endemic new norm.”
It is recommended that individuals who are 60 years and above should take an annual booster shot, much like influenza flu jabs, said Ong.
“Many of them are currently protected by boosters or recent recovery from Covid-19. But this will likely wane over time because of their vulnerable status.”
Those who are between 12 to 59 years old will also be “offered” an additional booster 12 months after their last dose, should they choose to take it, Ong added.
“This is a notch down from the current guidelines, which is that they are recommended. Now they are offered.”

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Toyota Motor is expanding its crossover lineup with the new 2024 Grand Highlander.
The vehicle is the latest from automakers attempting to go bigger and test their pricing power as consumers spend record amounts on new vehicles.
The SUV will be offered with three different engines, including two hybrids — setting it apart from many of its top rivals like the Ford Explorer and Kia Telluride.

2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

CHICAGO — Toyota Motor is expanding its segment-leading, three-row crossover lineup with the new 2024 Grand Highlander, including two gas-powered hybrid offerings.
The automaker revealed the vehicle as a bigger sibling to the Toyota Highlander midsize SUV/crossover on Wednesday night. It is longer and wider than the Highlander and provides 13.2 cubic feet of additional cargo volume, according to Toyota.

The vehicle is the latest example of automakers attempting to go bigger and test their pricing power as consumers spend record amounts on new vehicles. The average price paid for a new vehicle to begin this year was nearly $50,000, as automakers prioritize high-end models over entry-level models amid ongoing, yet improving, supply chain problems.
Toyota did not announce pricing for the Grand Highlander, however analysts expect it to be above comparable regular models that start between $36,000 and $51,000. It will be offered in three trim levels when it arrives in dealerships this summer.

2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

The average price paid for the current Highlander was more than $46,600 — $48,801 for the hybrid — during the fourth quarter of last year, according to Edmunds.
The Grand Highlander adds to the growing three-row midsize crossover segment in the U.S., which has expanded from 12 nameplates in 2018 to 16 vehicles for 2023, including the Grand Highlander, Edmunds reports. Other recent additions include the Jeep Grand Cherokee L, the Hyundai Palisade and the Kia Telluride.
The Grand Highlander will compete against those vehicles as well as the Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Traverse and other popular larger midsize SUVs/crossovers. Such vehicles have become increasingly popular — with sales up 4% from 2018 to 2022 — as Americans have moved away from large sedans and other vehicles.

Ivan Drury, Edmunds’ director of insights, said consumers are increasingly looking at three-row crossovers as alternatives to minivans, which are ergonomic but have faced stigmas of being uncool.
“Everybody wants a minivan but nobody wants to admit it,” he said. “People want third rows even if they don’t use it.”

2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

The Grand Highlander was revealed in connection to this week’s Chicago Auto Show. Several auto brands such as Jeep and Volkswagen are expected to reveal specialty models that will likely push up prices.
The Grand Highlander, while bigger than the standard Highlander, will be smaller than Toyota’s Sequoia SUV, which is produced through a truck-based, or “body-on-frame,” process. That assembly offers greater utility but less on-road comfort than a “unibody” process utilized for cars and crossovers like the Highlander models.
“The current Highlander is a little bit smaller than the Palisade or the Traverse,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility. “You’ve got space for this. It’s also not as ‘truckie’ as the Sequoia.”
The Highlander was one of Toyota’s best-selling vehicles last year, at nearly 223,000 vehicles sold. It was only outsold by the Toyota RAV4 small crossover and Camry sedan. Brinley doesn’t expect the Grand Highlander to be a major volume product, but said it “rounds out” Toyota’s crossover lineup and gives customers more options.
Edmunds reports the Highlander was the best-selling three-row midsize crossover/SUV in the U.S. last year, beating out the Ford Explorer, Grand Cherokee L and Toyota 4Runner. It’s also one of the most cross-shopped vehicles by consumers in the segment, according to Edmunds.

2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

Toyota says the Grand Highlander will offer a suite of active safety and convenience features as well as 13 cupholders and seven USB-C charge ports across the vehicle’s three rows.
The SUV will be offered with three different engines, including two hybrids — setting it apart from many of its top competitors. The entry-level four-cylinder turbo gas engine and V6 hybrid are currently available on the Highlander. The top-end V6 Hybrid MAX will produce 362-horsepower and 400-pound feet of torque, Toyota said.
The hybrid Grand Highlanders follow Toyota’s overall strategy of offering a mix of traditional gas engines, hybrids and all-electric vehicles as it pushes toward carbon neutrality by 2050.
“This three-row model takes the Highlander legacy to an entirely new space while also keeping our promise to deliver on electrification,” Lisa Materazzo, group vice president of Toyota marketing, said in a release.

Toyota’s U.S. vehicle lineup includes 10 hybrids, two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and the all-electric bZ4X and the fuel cell-powered Mirai.
The Japanese automaker has been criticized by some investors and environmental groups for not moving to all-electric vehicles more quickly. The company has argued that not all consumers will move to EVs at the same time and that it can produce dozens of hybrids with the same amount of carbon emissions as one all-electric vehicle.
Toyota plans to invest roughly $70 billion in electrified vehicles, including $35 billion in all-electric battery technologies, over nine years. It plans to offer about 70 electrified models globally by 2025.
Toyota — the world’s largest automaker — plans to sell about 3.5 million all-electric vehicles annually by 2030, which would amount to only a third of its current annual sales.

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Disney (DIS) reported a stronger-than-expected fiscal 2023 first quarter after the closing bell Wednesday, and Bob Iger struck the right tone on his first conference call since returning as CEO, prioritizing creativity and profitability. Revenue increased about 8% year-over-year, to $23.51 billion, beating analysts’ expectations for $23.37 billion, according to estimates compiled by Refinitiv. Earnings-per-share (EPS) fell 6.6% on an annual basis, to 99 cents, beating forecasts for 78 cents. DIS mountain 2022-03-01 Disney shares Shares of Disney jumped about 5% after hours to nearly $118 per share, a move that would extend its gains to more than 34% in 2023 on the new year after a terrible two-year stretch. The stock hit an all-time intraday high of $203.02 in early March 2021 before a massive slide to a 52-week low of $84.07 on Dec. 28, 2022. Bottom Line The Disney quarter had a lot to offer for the bulls. The upside came from the exact areas we wanted, with improved cost control at the streaming business and continued strength at the theme parks. In a market that wants to see sustainable growth over anything else, Disney’s focus on profitability instead of chasing growth is welcomed news. Reorganization and restructuring plans, which were announced shortly after the earnings, were positive developments as well. We have long said Disney’s costs are too high, so we’re pleased to see management make the tough but necessary action to reduce its cost structure and improve content monetization opportunities. These combined actions should make Disney’s earnings power much stronger in the years ahead. It was a great first conference call back by Iger and he checked off a lot of boxes in terms of costs, content, and providing a path toward reinstating the dividend. In fact, we liked what we heard so much that we believe activist investor Nelson Peltz should be satisfied. He doesn’t need to be on the board, because a lot of the changes he pushed for were delivered Wednesday evening. We cannot fault Peltz for wanting to take a victory lap and we, the shareholders, thank everyone. Even after the stock’s big run this year, we think the rally can continue, which is why we reiterate our 1 rating . Quarterly Commentary Starting with the streaming business, we were pleased to see the losses at DTC significantly improve sequentially by $400 million. (Even though as the earnings table shows, DTC’s losses grew substantially year-over-year to $1.05 billion.) Part of the quarter-over-quarter decline in losses was due to higher revenue, but lower spending was an important function as well. Disney meaningfully reduced its marketing expenses in the quarter. There’s no need to be so promotional and chase subscribers when you have a great brand and customers are loyal even through price hikes. In the current quarter, management expects operating results to improve by $200 million, pegging losses at around $800 million, which is in line with estimates on Factset. Turning to the parks, it was a bounce-back quarter, with $2.2 billion in operating income, with strong margins both domestically and internationally, especially as the post-Covid recovery in the latter began to take shape. It will be interesting to see how park margins fare this year now that management is focused on improving the guest experience by selectively managing capacity at more affordable pricing. But even with the economy slowing down, Disney has seen no real drop off in demand which makes sense to us. People everywhere are still prioritizing experiences like travel and restaurants over goods. Quarter to date, management said park attendance at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort are pacing above the prior year, and this trend is expected to continue based on their reservation books. Iger’s Plan More than 2½ months after returning as CEO in place of the fired Bob Chapek, Iger started the post-earnings call by highlighting the success he’s had since becoming Disney CEO for the first time in 2005, navigating the company through two significant transformations before leaving the job in 2020. The first transformation emphasized new creative brands and franchises through the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. The second was Disney’s push into the digital world with the successful launch of its streaming platforms. Iger now believes it’s time for a third transformation, one that puts the company, in his words, “on a path to sustained growth and profitability while also reducing expenses to improve margins and returns.” Right away, he stressed that creativity has to move back to the center of the company. He wants to empower creative leaders at the company and make them responsible for the major decisions, like what content is made, how it gets distributed and monetized, and how it gets marketed. By extension, Disney is reorganizing into three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, an ESPN division, and a Parks, Experiences and Products unit. It can be a bit unnerving to see Disney go through yet another reorganization, but this looks appropriate considering the creativity destruction and under monetization of content that occurred under the Chapek regime. Iger wants Disney to be more efficient, and he believes this overhaul will make for a more cost-effective and streamlined approach to its operations. Iger also announced a significant cost savings target of $5.5 billion and that should go over well with investors. Reductions to non-content costs will total roughly $2.5 billion, of which $1 billion in savings is already underway and was provided in guidance last quarter. These cuts are expected to come from selling, general and administrative expenses, and other operating costs across the company. Unfortunately, this means Disney will reduce its workforce by approximately 7,000. The other $3 billion in savings are from the content side, and they’re expected to be spread out over the next few years, excluding sports. Disney must do what is necessary to regain cost control and push its streaming business toward sustainable profitable growth. Management continues to target Disney+ reaching profitability by the end of fiscal 2024. Last but not least, we finally got an answer to when Disney will be in a position to reinstate its dividend, which the company has not paid since its initial suspension in the spring of 2020 during the pandemic. After the balance sheet got wrecked from the 21st Century Fox acquisition and the losses at streaming piled up, we started to lose hope that a dividend would return in the near term. We gained clarity Wednesday evening when Iger said he plans to ask the board to approve the reinstatement of a “modest” dividend by the end of this calendar year. A company as storied as Disney should be paying a dividend and we’re pleased that management’s cost-cutting efforts are putting the entertainment giant on a path to paying one again. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long DIS. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Bob Iger, former CEO, The Walt Disney Company
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Disney (DIS) reported a stronger-than-expected fiscal 2023 first quarter after the closing bell Wednesday, and Bob Iger struck the right tone on his first conference call since returning as CEO, prioritizing creativity and profitability. More

Disney said it will be reorganizing into three divisions: Entertainment, ESPN and parks and experiences.
Disney will slash 7,000 jobs from its workforce and plans to cut $5.5 billion in costs, including $3 billion in content savings.
CEO Bob Iger said the company isn’t considering a spinoff of ESPN.

Disney said Wednesday it is planning to reorganize into three segments, while also cutting thousands of jobs and slashing costs.
The media and entertainment giant said it would now be made up of three divisions:

Disney Entertainment, which includes most of its streaming and media operations
An ESPN division that includes the TV network and the ESPN+ streaming service
A Parks, Experiences and Products unit 

related investing news

27 minutes ago

The move marks the most significant action Bob Iger has taken since returning to the company as CEO in November. Disney announced the changes minutes after it posted its most recent quarterly earnings. The announcements also come as Disney engages in a proxy fight with activist investor Nelson Peltz and his firm Trian Management.
“We are pleased that Disney is listening,” a Trian spokesperson said Wednesday.
On Wednesday, during its quarterly earnings call with investors, Disney also announced it would be cutting $5.5 billion in costs, which will be made up of $3 billion from content, excluding sports, and the remaining $2.5 billion from non-content cuts. Disney executives said about $1 billion in cost cutting was already underway since last quarter.
Disney also said it would be eliminating 7,000 jobs from its workforce. That would be about 3% of the roughly 220,0000 people it employed as of Oct. 1, according to an SEC filing, with roughly 166,000 in the U.S. and about 54,000 internationally.
Disney’s stock rose about 5% in off-hours trading.

Media companies, such as Warner Bros. Discovery, have been pulling back on content spending and looking to make their streaming businesses profitable. Heightened competition has led to slowing subscriber growth, and companies have been looking to find new avenues of revenue growth. Some, like Disney+ and Netflix, have added cheaper, ad-supported options.
“We will take a very hard look at the cost of everything we make across television and film,” Iger said on a call with investors Wednesday.
The reorganization has been underway since Iger returned to the helm of Disney, replacing his hand-picked successor Bob Chapek.
The entertainment group will be led by top lieutenants Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, who are each considered contenders to take over for Iger in less than two years. ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro will lead the ESPN segment, while Josh D’Amaro, already the head of Disney’s parks, experiences and products segment, will remain in control.

Iger addresses ESPN speculation

The future of ESPN under Disney’s ownership has been a question for sometime for investors. Last year, Third Point, which is led by activist investor Dan Loeb, had urged the company to spin out ESPN. Disney and Third Point later reached a deal, after reversing course on its thoughts for the future of ESPN.
Iger addressed speculation that the company may look to spin out ESPN due to the sports network being siloed into its own unit. He noted that while ESPN has been struggling due to cord-cutting, the ESPN brand and programming remains healthy and in-demand.
“We’re not engaged in any conversations or considering a spinoff of ESPN,” Iger said on Wednesday. He said the move was considered “in my absence,” and was concluded it wasn’t the right move for Disney.
Iger did note that he and Pitaro would be more selective on what it spends on sports rights, noting the upcoming negotiations for NBA rights.

We’re not engaged in any conversations or considering a spinoff of ESPN.

Disney CEO

Chapek’s removal came shortly after Disney had reported its fiscal fourth quarter earnings, disappointing on profit and certain key revenue segments. Chapek had also warned that Disney’s strong streaming numbers would taper off in the future. He had also told employees shortly thereafter that Disney would be cutting costs through hiring freezes, layoffs and other measures.
Shortly after his return, Iger sent a memo to employees announcing the business would be reorganized, particularly the Disney Media and Entertainment unit. The reorganization immediately meant the departure of Kareem Daniel, the head of the company’s previous media and entertainment unit, and right hand to Chapek. 
Iger had said he would put more “decision-making back in the hands of our creative teams and rationalize costs” at the time. The goal would be to have a new structure in place in the coming months, with elements of DMED remaining, CNBC reported. He added during a town hall that he wouldn’t lift the company’s hiring freeze as he reassessed Disney’s cost structure. 
On Wednesday, Iger again echoed those comments about returning control to the creative minds at the company.
“Our company is fueled by storytelling and creativity, and virtually every dollar we earn, every transaction, every interaction with our consumers, emanates from something creative,” Iger said Wednesday. “I have always believed that the best way to spur great creativity is to make sure the people who are managing the creative processes feel empowered.”
Tune in to CNBC at 9 a.m. ET Thursday for an exclusive interview with Disney CEO Bob Iger.

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