Former Disney CEO Bob Iger joins board for metaverse firm Genies: report

Bob Iger, CEO of the American entertainment conglomerate Disney for fifteen years, has joined the board of a Los Angeles-based metaverse firm Genies. 

Genies offers services to allow users to create virtual avatars that can be used in the metaverse, complete with accessories that can be purchased as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The firm has a partnership with Warner Music Group, a major American record label, to create avatars and digital goods for artists. 

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

While head of Disney, Iger spearheaded the acquisitions of Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm and Pixar, as well as the creation of the streaming platform Disney+. As per a report from the Wall Street Journal, Iger joined the Genies board because he believes the entertainment industry will play a strong role in the metaverse and thus needs an avenue to create and sell virtual goods – especially those tied to existing intellectual property. 

Iger is an investor in Genies. Other investors in the firm include Bond Capital, Breyer Capital and New Enterprise Associates. 

An increasing number of traditional media firms have already onboarded people to lead metaverse efforts, such as Spotify, YouTube and even Disney.

About Author

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.