USA: According to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg, Jeremy Doig, the chief technology officer of Walt Disney Co.'s streaming services, has left the organization. This is the latest high-profile departure as CEO Bob Iger restructures the largest entertainment company in the world.
Doig oversaw technology for Disney, Hulu, and ESPN before joining Disney in March of last year following a lengthy tenure at Google. Aaron LaBerge, who has been employed by Disney for the past ten years, will now be responsible for product and technology for Disney's media businesses.
Mike Hanley, senior vice president for engineering in Disney's streaming division, informed coworkers in a note: "I have been informed that Jeremy Doig is no longer with the company effective immediately." Reporting to LaBerge will be Hanley.
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Requests for comments were not immediately answered by Disney representatives. Requests for comments from Doig were not promptly answered.
Doig's departure occurs just days after Iger announced Disney would lay off 7,000 workers and implement a new corporate structure that would give the company's top creative executives control over its streaming services once again.
The changes gave lieutenants Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, who oversee entertainment, and ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro more power, but they also removed Michael Paull, who served as president of Disney Streaming previously, and Rebecca Campbell, who is in charge of international content and operations.
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Campbell's departure from Disney has been announced for the end of June, while Paull's future is hotly contested within the organization. Paull was not mentioned in the memo that Bergman and Walden initially distributed outlining their new structure. They then followed up with a note to make it clear that he would report to them. Technology and product management will now be under Bergman, Walden, and Pitaro's control instead of Paull. When Disney acquired BAMTech, a pioneer in video streaming technology, Paull joined the company.
Disney Media Entertainment & Distribution, a division established by Bob Chapek, Iger's predecessor, to manage the streaming services, has been effectively disbanded. A key Chapek ally and the head of DMED, Kareem Daniel, left the business in November of last year.
Thousands of Disney employees are uncertain about their futures at the company and the future of their respective divisions as a result of the most recent announcements. Although most people don't know how the job cuts will be distributed, many believe that DMED and general entertainment employees will be the hardest hit.
Additionally, even though the three main streaming services' marketing and programming have been split up into two separate divisions, the tech staff still needs to work on all three at once.
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Following Disney's release of first-quarter results that exceeded expectations, LaBerge wrote in a memo to his coworkers that was also obtained by Bloomberg that "the past 36 hours have been a whirlwind of events."