Not-so-magic kingdom: Epic Games, Taylor Frankie Paul and OpenAI pose challenges to new Disney CEO in first week on job
NY Post
New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro’s first week on the job has been anything but smooth-sailing as two separate billion-dollar tech deals abruptly crumbled and ABC cancelled reality star Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette” amid domestic violence allegations.
Shares in Disney dipped 0.5% Wednesday on news a three-year partnership with OpenAI – including a $1 billion investment from Disney – was dissolving after the tech firm announced it was shuttering its Sora video generator just months after its launch.
Disney’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games – which was led by D’Amaro, who previously ran the Mouse House’s theme parks, consumer products and games – faced uncertainty as the video game maker axed 1,000 jobs this week after its new Fortnite games flopped with fans.
“Josh got picked [as CEO] on Epic Games and on AI and technology and ‘risk taking’ — which is pretty funny since he has never taken a career risk in his life after 23 years working his way up step by step in parks and resorts,” a former Disney exec told The Post on Wednesday.
“OpenAI and Epic Games are supposedly key to Disney’s future — unless they aren’t — so what is the future?” the source added.
As for what D’Amaro can do to right the ship, the ex-exec said he could “shape and articulate an actual plan besides vague platitudes.”
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Kohl’s CEO Michael Bender has revealed that customers and staffers do not need to worry about more intense store closures this year as he focuses on turning around the flailing retailer.
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Another one bites the dust. Domino’s, the nation’s largest pizza dining chain, joins the ranks of pizza giants whose franchisees have filed for bankruptcy, leaving many SoCal locations in major limbo.
Dana Walden is unifying Disney’s film, television, streaming and gaming under one roof days before a new CEO takes the reins.
Nvidia said the revenue opportunity for its artificial intelligence chips may reach at least $1 trillion through 2027, as the company outlined a strategy to compete more aggressively in the fast-growing market for running AI systems in real time.
Saks Global — owner of luxury stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus — is cutting over 1,200 jobs as it shutters more than a dozen locations nationwide following its bankruptcy filing earlier this year.
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Amazon has been signaling that it wants a piece of the Saks empire — including possibly buying it outright — even as its prospects to break into the luxury market have been complicated by its controversial role in the retailer’s bankruptcy, The Post has learned.
The founder of a Vermont-based whiskey brand wants to give away a college campus that he bought during the pandemic — on the condition the new owner shares his vision for “the revival of our country and our civilization.”