Bob Chapek says Bob Iger quietly took back control of Disney within a month of handing over the top job — an unflattering picture of how the company is run at the top.

• Chapek says Iger reasserted himself as the real CEO through a New York Times piece done over email, which Chapek only learned about afterward.
• Iger's publicist did not give him a heads-up, and Chapek believes even the board, including chair Susan Arnold, was kept in the dark.
• Chapek calls the tactic "management by pronouncement" — announce the decision publicly so nobody gets a chance to argue, the same move Iger used on the Apple iTunes deal.
• Chapek found out he had effectively lost his job from a phone call, barely a month into it.

Outlook: The account adds to doubts about Disney's board and how cleanly it can hand power to Iger's eventual successor.