Late in 2019, during a conversation with TIME, longtime Disney CEO Bob Iger outlined the key qualities he thought his successor would need. By that time Iger had already outlasted—or moved along—several of his would-be successors, and he was very tight-lipped on who would be replacing him when his contract expired in 2020.

His ultimate choice, Bob Chapek, who had previously been in charge of Disney’s parks division, abruptly left the company on Nov. 20 after fewer than three years, and was replaced by Iger, which surprised everybody— including, reportedly, Iger. But looking back at his words from three years ago, Iger seemed to quite clearly predict why Chapek didn’t work out.

He suggested that there were four key qualities a new Disney chief ne…