Peter Bart: Trumpian Disruptions, AI & Tariffs Stall Growth, Put CEOs On Endangered Species List

I’ve never believed in ghosts but Lew Wasserman’s intruded on me this week. Lew was CEO not only of Universal but of Hollywood in general until around 2000, and thus he’d be surprised to learn that his peers today are an endangered species.

Even Casey Wasserman, Lew’s powerful grandson, this week lost hegemony not only over his management company but perhaps also the LA28 Olympics.

Studies indicate that the nation’s CEOs are now getting the ax with surprising frequency – one reflection of Trump-era disruptions. In the first quarter alone, new CEOs assumed control at scores of companies including Walmart, PayPal, Kroger, Procter & Gamble and, of course, Disney. Yes, even Bob Iger will shed his title next month at the semi-happiest place on earth.

“Why were we all applauding Jeff Bezos?” media gurus are lately asking about the Amazon boss. The question reacts not only to his robust partying or support for the Melania doc but also his sharp cutbacks at the Washington Post.

So if the CEOs are edgy about economic disruption, shouldn’t their employees share like concern, along with their shareholders – witness this week’s market fluctuations.

Paradoxically, while top bankers are pulling the plug on CEOs, they simultaneously are rewarding themselves more handsomely. The uber-bosses at Bank of America or Goldman Sachs averaged 21% hikes in compensation last year. Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan was paid a $43 million base; he also relished completion of his resplendent new headquarters. Of course some executives enmeshed in takeover battles – David Zazlav, for example – add layers of stock enhancements to their compensation.

Inevitably, public criticism of the “power elite” has inspired counter-movements, some satiric. A “March for Billionaires” is planned in San Francisco where wealthy techies are protesting a prospective “wealth tax.” Derik Kauffman, founder of an AI startup, argues that “vilifying billionaires is popular but losing them is expensive.”

Public skepticism about CEOs is being reflected in the mixed reception to the Disney appointment of Josh D’Amaro to replace the retiring Iger. Some analysts, while praising D’Amaro’s record in theme parks, point to his absence of experience in the entertainment sector – once the Disney mainstay.

The Los Angeles Times quoted an unnamed former Disney executive as stating: ”You can’t achieve growth just by increasing admission prices. No one except the wealthy will be able to afford it.”

The Disney empire exercises imposing strength in the experience sector (cruise ships and theme parks) but the misfire of the Disney-Pixar movie Elio at the box office last year reflected the hazards of new story development.

“Walt Disney himself was a storyteller continually thinking outside the box,” wrote another Disney veteran. “But he also focused on creating colleges like Cal Arts or even designing entire new communities.”

The demanding times faced by CEOs inspired a separate section the New York Times last week headlined “What’s Keeping CEOs Awake at Night?” Its writers listed obvious challenges such as AI, tariffs, growing pressures for growth, and disruptions in global politics.

“On a global basis economic growth is around 3% but no company is satisfied with that so how do prod growth without stifling creativity?” asks one CEO contributor. ”Boards are more impatient than they used to be,” adds an executive of Spencer Stuart, which recruits replacements.

The upshot is that even CEO visionaries like Lew Wasserman came to sense the ground shifting under them. Wasserman made one serious mistake late in his career, agreeing to the sale of his empire to a Japanese entity called Matsushita.

The agreement called for Wasserman to play a key role in the successor company but he soon found himself on the sidelines. During one subsequent lunch at the Universal commissary, he turned to me and said, “The chicken salad still tastes the same and so does the tuna but the flavor of the room has sure changed, hasn’t it?”

I shook my head in agreement, ordering a Cobb.