Photo: Getty
She was his high school sweetheart.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Feb 27, 2020
Disney stunned the world this week when they annouced that their longtime CEO Bob Iger was going to stepping away from that role immediately. Iger, who had been planning to retire around 2021, decided he wanted to get away from the day-to-day running of the company and focus more on the creative aspect of things.
In Iger's place, Disney announced that Bob Chapek would be stepping up as CEO. A longtime executive at Disney, Chapek has been overseeing the theme parks and products since 2018. Before that, he focused on the home entertainment division.
While Chapek has been a steady presence inside Disney, he has had a steady presence supporting him the whole time. he has been married to his wife Cindy for 40 years and the couple has three children as well as three grandchildren.
Who is Bob Chapek's wife? Read on for all the details.
1. Who Is Bob Chapek?
Bob Chapek is the brand new CEO of Disney, after the surprise departure of Bob Iger this week. Chapek has been with Disney for 27 years, starting in the home entertainment division in 1993. He made his mark there as the inventor of the "vault" concept, where the company would re-release copies of old films for only a limited time every few years. He later became president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios before moving into the role of president of consumer products for four years. In 2015, he was named chairman overseeing theme park operation and in 2018, the company rolled products and experiences, like cruises, into that division under his leadership.
During his time in the theme park job, he led the development of the Shanghai Disney Resort and oversaw two tremendous “Star Wars”-themed attractions at Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California.
Chapek at a Disney attraction.
2. Who is Bob Chapek's wife, Cindy Chapek?
According to reports, Chapek and his wife Cindy have been married for 40 years after meeting in high school. Both grew up in Indiana and went to college at the University of Indiana. Chapek studied microbiology before switching tracks and getting an MBA from the University of Michigan. His earliest jobs were in advertising before he started with Disney. It's not clear if Cindy ever had an outside career or if she focused on raising their three kids.
3. All of their kids have worked for Disney.
It must have been indescribably cool to have your dad be in charge of all the Disney resorts in the world. Not only does that mean insider access to the happiest places on earth, but it also means a leg up on some really interesting career options. All three of the Chapek kids ended up working for Disney at some point in their careers. Daughter Kimberly Chapek Maddux spent three years as a senior secretary in Walt Disney Studios National Motion Pictures Publicity office before going to work for Apple. Son Brian Chapek is in the development division of Marvel Studios, which is part of the Disney empire. Daughter Kelly Chapek is currently working in talent acquisition at Warner Brothers but in her younger days she too took advantage of her Disney insider status; she worked at the Disney store in Camarillo.
4. The couple has three grandchildren.
Bob and Cindy Chapek are the proud grandparents to three unnnamed grandchildren. It's probably safe to assume that those three kids are going to have plenty of the coolest Disney merch.
5. Has Chapek's wife commented on the role yet?
Cindy Chapek hasn't done any press about the announcement that her husband will be taking over one of the most recognizable brands in the world. But Chapek himself talked about how the new role was the fulfillment of a dream he has had ever since he was a little boy visiting Disney parks himself. “When I was growing up in Hammond, Ind., the son of a World War II veteran and working mother, my parents would take us on a family vacation to Walt Disney World every year,” he said during an investor call. “That’s where I developed a deep love for Disney and all that it stands for. That young boy could’ve never imagined that one day he would get the chance to lead this extraordinary company as the seventh CEO in its nearly 100-year history.”
6. What's next for the Chapeks?
While Cindy Chapek has been married to a man with a high-profile job all along, his profile just got even higher. She will be the power behind one of the most influential people in entertainment now that her husband is the Disney CEO. This will likely be an adventure for both of them.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. She is the creator of the blog FeminXer and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.