Disney has appointed Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro as the next CEO succeeds Bob Iger and wins a closely watched succession race at the Mouse House.
Investors, industry insiders and onlookers have long awaited the announcement of the next leader of one of America’s most storied companies. The appointment marks the second time in six years that Disney has chosen a successor to Iger — its previous choice to head the parks, Bob Chapek, turned into a public spectacle of corporate governance that saw Iger reclaim the CEO spot and reboot into retirement.
D’Amaro’s appointment will take effect March 18 at Disney’s annual meeting. Iger will serve as a senior advisor and member of Disney’s board of directors until his retirement from the company on December 31.
“Josh D’Amaro is an exceptional leader and the ideal person to become our next CEO,” Iger said in a statement. “He has an instinctive appreciation of the Disney brand and a deep understanding of what resonates with our audiences, coupled with the rigor and attention to detail needed to realize some of our most ambitious projects.” His ability to combine creativity and operational excellence is exemplary and I am thrilled for Josh and the company.
Over the past few years, Disney’s board of directors… led by former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman – considered candidates for the top job, primarily among senior Disney executives. Iger’s four direct reports — D’Amaro, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman — all interviewed with the succession committee as early as 2024, CNBC previously reported.
Speculation has been limited to D’Amaro and Walden in recent months.
“We looked at all the candidates, we wanted whoever got this job to be the best person,” Gorman told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin on Tuesday, adding that there were more than 100 people on the list of potential candidates.
Walden, meanwhile, was named president and chief creative officer on Tuesday as part of the transition announcement. Also effective March 18, Walden is expected to report directly to D’Amaro and focus on Disney’s storytelling and content engine in the newly created role.
“If you think about what’s at the heart of the Disney company, it’s creativity. It’s the incredible [intellectual property] this has been produced for decades,” Gorman said Tuesday.
Josh D’Amaro, President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, speaks during day two of D23 Brazil: A Disney Experience at Transamerica Expo Center on November 9, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Ricardo Moreira | Getty Images
D’Amaro comes to Disney after a period of leadership uncertainty and mixed reception from Wall Street over the state of Disney’s business. Disney Monday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat expectations – boosted by its theme parks and streaming – but the stock lost 7%. Iger told investors he was confident in the changes Disney has made over the past three years and its path to future success.
Notably, the experiences unit that houses theme parks, resorts and cruises reported more than $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time during the period. The growth of the division leaves it plenty of room to run.
The company plans to develop a new theme park and resort in Abu Dhabi — separate from its commitment to invest $60 billion in its theme parks over the next decade — and seeks to capitalize on its box office dominance in 2025. But the state of the entertainment industry remains in the forefront, as Disney faces the erosion of traditional television and focuses its efforts on branded content and the profitability of the streaming business.
It will be up to Iger’s successor to guide Disney into its next phase.
In the footsteps of Iger Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, appears at the Disney Entertainment Showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, California on August 9, 2024.
Araya Doheny | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Running a media and theme park conglomerate like Disney is no easy task. Neither succeeds Iger.
The famous CEO has been at the helm of Disney for about 20 years, made up of two terms. Iger first served as CEO of Disney for 15 years – following a career at Disney’s broadcast network, ABC, and then in senior management roles at the parent company – before first resignation in 2020.
In a quick announcement, Disney announced that Chapek, who had most recently served as president of Disney Parks, would take over as CEO. Iger’s announcement came earlier than expected and the choice of his successor generally surprised the industry.
During Iger’s first tenure at the helm of the company, he oversaw acquisitions and revitalized the company into a powerhouse. When he left in 2020, his list of accomplishments was long and included the recently launched streaming service Disney+, which initially gathered subscribers at a rapid pace.
However, the transfer to Chapek was mired in drama and overshadowed by the Covid pandemic, which triggered stay-at-home orders that closed movie theaters and theme parks, although that has been a boon for streaming.
Disney shares had soared early in the pandemic as the number of streaming subscribers increased. But at the end of 2021, under Chapek, Disney’s the stock price started to fall as the company reported missing profits and slower streaming growth compared to Wall Street expectations.
At the end of 2022, as criticism of Chapek’s management of Disney increased, Iger regained the top job. The announcement propelled the company’s stock price, even though Iger’s agenda would include a restructuring of the company he left less than two years earlier.
In his second term as CEO, Iger focused less on acquisitions and more on a massive restructuring which implemented $5.5 billion in cost cuts, made layoffs and created three main divisions of the company: Disney Entertainment; ESPN and Sports; and Parks, experiences and products.
“I am incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished over the past three years to put Disney on a path for continued growth. I am inspired and energized by the opportunities ahead for this wonderful company,” Iger told investors Monday.
Iger too pushed back an activist campaign, led television and streaming the company to profitability, brought Disney back to tops the box office And announced a massive investment in its theme parksundoubtedly its strongest activity.
Find the next Bob Disney CEO Bob Iger gives a thumbs up on the court before a game between the LA Clippers and the Phoenix Suns at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on October 24, 2025.
Jordan Teller/isi Photos | Isi Photos | Getty Images
As Iger worked to get the company back on track, the question of succession once again came to the forefront.
Shortly after returning as CEO, Iger told CNBC that he did not intend to stay more than two years.
Like previous times Iger announced his intention to resign, his tentative departure date was pushed back. By mid-2023 Disney extended Iger’s deal two years and announced that he would appoint a successor by early 2026.
The CEO said that as part of his contract extension, he wanted to “ensure that Disney is strongly positioned” for the next person to take on the role.
“The importance of the succession process cannot be overstated,” Iger said in the statement at the time.
—Julia Boorstin of CNBC contributed to this report.