In his first major move since passing the Disney CEO baton to Josh D’Amaro, Bob Iger has rejoined Thrive Capital as an advisor.
Josh Kushner, the firm’s founder, confirmed the move in a post on X. “Bob leads with boldness and conviction because he knows what he is building and why,” he wrote. “He is rejoining Thrive at a time when that kind of leadership matters most.”
In 2022, during his interregnum between stints as Disney’s chief exec, Iger joined Thrive as a venture partner. In early 2023, after rejoining Disney, he participated in an investment in the venture capital firm that was a personal one and unrelated to his duties as chief executive.
Thrive was founded by Kushner, younger brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a former White House advisor.
Iger is remaining on the board of Disney until the end of the year. Last month’s handoff to D’Amaro marked the culmination of the company’s smooth succession process, a long-sought goal following several botched handoffs and significant intrigue surrounding the changing of the guard.
Thrive, founded in 2009, invests in internet, software, and other tech companies. It raised $10 billion for its latest fund. During nearly two decades as Disney CEO, Iger made tech a core priority, setting deals with Epic Games, OpenAI and streaming tech player BAMtech. Early in his initial tenure, he forged ties with late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, inking a then-unprecedented deal for current series like Grey’s Anatomy and Lost to be sold in the iTunes store, a key early offering for the first line of iPods with video screens.
Not all of Iger’s tech forays proved fruitful. Acquisitions of Maker Studios and Club Penguin wound up misfiring, and the agreement with OpenAI unraveled several weeks ago after the startup mothballed its Sora video generator.
Iger, who turned 75 in February, hasn’t made announcements or given any interviews to indicate his future plans. After stepping down as Disney CEO in February 2020, he made a series of investments in emerging companies like Funko and GoPuff. Along with wife Willow Bay, he also acquired the Angel City FC, a team in the National Women’s Soccer League. With Disney successor Bob Chapek struggling, he was recruited to return as CEO in 2022 after Chapek’s ouster by the board of directors.
