Disney chair says he would consider job in Biden administration if asked

Walt Disney executive chairman Bob Iger says he would consider serving in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration if asked.

“Giving back in some fashion — serving our country in some fashion — is certainly something that I would consider seriously,” Iger told the Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein in a Bloomberg TV interview.

“But a lot of it would depend on what it is, what the opportunity is, and whether I thought it would be something that I would both be stimulated by and be good at,” he added.

Iger has not been named as a contender for any Cabinet appointments in the Biden administration. His remarks come as the entertainment giant has taken a major revenue hit amid theme park and movie theater closures. After stepping down as CEO in February, he is set to leave Disney next December, Bloomberg noted.

Iger said in the interview that he has been approached by private equity companies but has yet to make a decision about his next steps.

“There’s a whole world out there, and I still have a lot of energy and a huge amount of curiosity,” he said.

The Disney chair added that he had considered a run for the Democratic Party’s 2020 nomination himself.

“I was seriously considering it,” Iger told Rubenstein. “But I’m not sure I would have gotten as far as actually running. I was starting to think more and more about how difficult the path might be in the Democratic Party for a businessman to actually get the nomination.”

Iger has drawn fire from the party’s progressive wing for layoffs during the pandemic.

“I would like to know whether Disney’s financial practices have impacted the company’s decision to lay off workers and whether your company plans to extend health care or other critical benefits and protections to laid off employees,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in a letter to Iger and CEO Bob Chapek in October.