In 2022, an activist investor backed by the billionaire chief of Marvel Entertainment targeted Disney, saying it needed to cut costs. That Marvel leader, Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, also happened to be a Disney employee after Disney bought Marvel in 2009 for $4 billion, and was the visionary executive who had established Marvel Studios as the future of Hollywood with 2008’s Iron Man, kicking off a decade-plus of superhero dominance at the box office.
On Wednesday, Disney fired Perlmutter via phone as part of cost-cutting measures, the New York Times reported. Marvel Entertainment, which sells consumer products and operates independently of production company Marvel Studios, will be folded into larger Disney units, the Times said, citing anonymous sources. Perlmutter’s co-president, Rob Steffens, and chief counsel John Turitzin, were also laid off. Marvel Entertainment president Dan Buckley will stay and report to the chief of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige.
Disney and Marvel Studios did not immediately return Fortune’s request for comment.
The layoff of Perlmutter comes days after Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the company would cut 7,000 staff amid financial difficulties and rising costs. To be sure, layoffs have been mounting in many industries recently, but few of those have touched top executives.
