Walt Disney TV CFO Ravi Ahuja to quit

Walt Disney Television's CFO Ravi Ahuja, also President - Business Operations, is set to exit the company. Ahuja has decided to leave Disney to seek a new adventure, Disney General Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice said in an internal memo. Ahuja will stay with Disney as a consultant.

"With the reorganization of our business and our pivot to wholly focus on the creation of programming, Ravi’s role as president of Business Operations and CFO significantly changed. As much as I hoped he’d stay on, ultimately he decided to take this change as an opportunity to find a new challenge, and I understand and respect his decision," Rice said.

He further said that Ahuja was "pivotal in managing a smooth integration of the Fox television businesses into Disney and then optimizing our operations quickly".

In a separate note to colleagues, Ahuja said that he did not make the decision easily, but expressed pride in what he and his team have been able to accomplish since he joined the greater company in the wake of Disney’s acquisitions of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets.

The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox Inc in 2018 in a $71 billion cash and stock deal.

"We have seamlessly melded two big TV companies – Disney | ABC Television and Fox Networks. We have made incredibly popular and culture-defining television. We have a leadership team that works supportively with each other and in the best interests of our company and viewers. We are navigating through a once-in-a-century pandemic, and we are repositioning ourselves for the future of our company and our industry," Ahuja told his colleagues.

Ahuja, who previously served as the chief financial officer of the Fox Network Group, had joined Walt Disney in April 2019.