The famously frugal Marvel Entertainment chairman Isaac Perlmutter has been laid off as part of Disney’s cost-cutting measures over the next few months, according to The New York Times.
Perlmutter was reportedly told by phone on Wednesday that Marvel Entertainment, the division centered on consumer products and separate from Marvel Studios, was redundant and would be folded into larger Disney business units.
A Disney spokesman confirmed the job eliminations at Marvel Entertainment to the paper but declined to comment further. The move is part of Disney’s efforts to eliminate 7,000 jobs – around 4% of its global staff – as part of $5.5 billion worth of cuts intended to improve Disney’s financial results and position.
Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Entertainment, will remain and report solely to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
Perlmutter sold Marvel to Disney in 2009 for $4 billion. He gained control of the superhero company in the late 1990s and expanded its merchandising business by licensing properties like X-Men and Spider-Man to movie studios.
His involvement with Marvel has greatly diminished over the years since the sale, and he has not been involved with Marvel movies since 2015. Perlmutter lost oversight of Marvel television shows in 2019.
More recently, his job at Marvel Entertainment was limited to businesses like comics publishing, game licensing, consumer products, and superhero arena shows.
Source: The New York Times
