Walt Disney on Tuesday named theme parks head Josh D’Amaro as CEO, ending years of succession uncertainty and placing a longtime insider at the helm as artificial intelligence and a wave of consolidation upend the media industry.
D’Amaro, 54, will take the reins from Bob Iger, 74, at the company’s annual investor meeting on March 18. Iger – credited with shaping the modern Disney through deals for Pixar, Marvel and 21st Century Fox – will stay on as a senior adviser and board member until his retirement from the company on Dec. 31. Disney also named entertainment co-chief Dana Walden, a creative executive in the mold of Iger with a string of commercial and critical hits and strong talent ties, as chief content officer and president.
Walden was among the candidates for the CEO role along with entertainment co-chief Alan Bergman and ESPN head Jimmy Pitaro. Succession has long been the storied entertainment giant’s weakness – it delayed Iger’s retirement several times and brought him back in 2022 to replace his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, after the pandemic hobbled its business. To avoid another misstep, Disney in 2024 named Morgan Stanley veteran James Gorman as its chairman to oversee the CEO search. Gorman, who led a smooth transition at the Wall Street bank, joined after the House of Mickey Mouse extended Iger’s tenure for a fifth time through 2026.
Disney shares were down 0.8% in early trading. With D’Amaro, Disney is turning to a nearly three-decade company veteran who runs its biggest profit engine – the experiences unit that includes theme parks and cruises and whose sales have grown every year after the pandemic receded in 2021. Last fiscal year, the division turned a record operating profit of nearly $10 billion, making up nearly 60% of the company’s earnings.
