Disney’s heir apparent is stepping down

Thomas Staggs, the favored contender to lead The Walt Disney Co. after Robert Iger’s retirement, yesterday announced he would exit the company.

Effective May 6, the chief operating officer will step down. Staggs, who earned the No. 2 position at the company last year, will remain on as an employee as an adviser to Iger until the fall.

Iger, 65, plans to retire in June 2018.

After being promoting, Staggs, 55, came under scrutiny by the Disney board, some of whom were not convinced he had the skills required to maintain Disney’s creative momentum, according to The New York Times.

He also had an early misstep in the hiring of Leslie Ferraro as merchandising chairwoman. She proved to be a poor fit and left Disney in February.

Read more from The New York Times.