Disney has selected its parks head as the successor to CEO Bob Iger. Now, the Mouse House has to hope that history doesn’t repeat itself.
Josh D’Amaro, a 28-year Disney veteran who’s run the company’s experiences division since 2020, will take over for Iger, who’s retiring for the second time, on March 18.
Disney announced the CEO succession plan on Tuesday in an SEC filing. Iger will remain on Disney’s board as a senior advisor, the company said in its filing.
D’Amaro beat out Dana Walden, who oversees Disney’s entertainment and TV portfolio, for the top job. The two were largely seen in Hollywood as the frontrunners in the months leading up to the announcement. Walden will become Disney’s president and chief creative officer, following D’Amaro’s promotion to CEO.
It may be tempting to draw parallels between D’Amaro and Iger’s first successor: Bob Chapek, who’d also run Disney’s experiences business before becoming CEO in early 2020. Iger appeared to regret his choice of Chapek and seemingly undermined the man he called “Little Bob,” CNBC reported. Chapek’s brief stint as Disney CEO was widely viewed as a bumpy, tumultuous tenure.
Disney’s CEO succession process was much more thorough this time. It was led by James Gorman, a former Morgan Stanley CEO, who had successfully navigated his own leadership transition.
From parks to the perch atop Disney
Under D’Amaro’s leadership, Disney’s experiences business has had record revenue and earnings, which make up the lion’s share of the Mouse House’s profits. The growth in experiences has been driven by nearly annual price hikes at Disney’s parks, which have helped generate more revenue per guest.
Despite those price increases, D’Amaro — a charming 54-year-old — has remained well-liked among Disney fans, some of whom have even argued that higher prices could reduce crowds, thereby improving their experience.
However, some Disney superfans said they were skeptical that D’Amaro was a better choice than Walden, who has run the company’s crucial streaming business and has strong relationships in Hollywood.
“You can only extract so much out of the parks,” said Lucas Lozano, a Disney fan based in Texas.
Disney superfan Shae Noble, who just renewed her annual pass to Disney World, said she’s “losing faith” in Disney leadership as park prices rise and said she’s “nervous about leadership changes after what happened before,” referring to Chapek.
Lozano expressed a similar concern: “Let’s not forget: Bob Chapek once was in D’Amaro’s position before he was named CEO, and look what happened.”
Life after Iger
D’Amaro will also have to win over Wall Street, which has been lukewarm on the Mouse House for the last few years. Disney’s stock is down 1% over the past year and has lost a third of its value since its peak five years ago.
D’Amaro’s own fiefdom, Disney’s experiences business, appears to be firing on all cylinders, though there are questions about how much more it can push up prices.
Disney’s direct-to-consumer business is a mixed bag. Streaming has become profitable and steadily added subscribers. However, Disney+ and Hulu’s share of US TV viewing has barely budged for years, according to Nielsen data.
Disney has a few ideas for jumpstarting engagement, including adding AI and short-form video to Disney+ after a deal with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. It’s also working to transition ESPN into the streaming future.
D’Amaro will need to look well beyond parks to set Disney up for success in the post-Iger era.
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