Disney finally has a new Mouseketeer in chief.
Josh D’Amaro, a 28-year Disney veteran with vast theme park experience but little expertise in movies and television, will succeed Robert A. Iger as Disney’s chief executive, ending a nearly three-year search, the company said on Tuesday.
Mr. D’Amaro, 54, has most recently served as chairman of Disney Experiences, a division with $36 billion in annual revenue that includes theme parks, cruise vacations and consumer products, including video games. Mr. D’Amaro’s unit supplied roughly 60 percent of Disney’s profit last year.
Succession has been hanging over the company since 2022, when Mr. Iger — having bungled the process in 2020 — came out of retirement to retake Disney’s reins. This time around, an outsider, James P. Gorman, the veteran Wall Street banker, managed the succession planning process. He was recruited to serve on the Disney board in 2024 as part of Mr. Iger’s response to attacks from activist investors, one of whom, Nelson Peltz, harshly criticized the company for slipshod succession planning.
Although the company considered outside candidates, the search came down to four internal leaders. They were Dana Walden, Disney’s top TV executive; Alan Bergman, Disney’s movie chief; Jimmy Pitaro, whose fief is ESPN; and Mr. D’Amaro. The question of whether any of them will ascend to the top job has captivated Hollywood, which long viewed Ms. Walden, 61, as the most viable candidate.
Disney has a history of bumpy transfers of power. Mr. Iger’s predecessor when he was first elevated to run the company, Michael D. Eisner, tried to cling to his job, and in the end turned over a struggling company. During his earlier, 15-year stint as Disney’s chief executive, Mr. Iger delayed his retirement four times and seemed reluctant to leave when he did.
The last time Mr. Iger stepped back, he quickly soured on his successor, Bob Chapek, who, like Mr. D’Amaro, also ascended from the company’s theme park division. The epic power struggle that followed between the two destabilized the company and ended with Mr. Iger’s return to Disney.
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Brooks Barnes is the chief Hollywood correspondent for The Times. He has reported on the entertainment industry for 25 years.
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