Josh D’Amaro picked to succeed Bob Iger

Disney has named Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, as its next CEO, succeeding Bob Iger and clinching a closely watched succession race at the Mouse House.

Investors, industry insiders and onlookers have long awaited the announcement of who will take over as the next leader of one of the most storied U.S. companies. The appointment marks the second time in six years that Disney has selected a successor to Iger — his previous pick in parks boss Bob Chapek devolved into a public spectacle of corporate governance that saw Iger reclaim the CEO spot and restart the clock on retirement.

D’Amaro’s appointment will be effective as of March 18 at Disney’s annual meeting. Iger will serve as a senior advisor and Disney board member until he retires from the company on Dec. 31.

“Josh D’Amaro is an exceptional leader and the right 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, paired with the rigor and attention to detail required to deliver some of our most ambitious projects. His ability to combine creativity with operational excellence is exemplary and I am thrilled for Josh and the company.”

For the last several years, the Disney board — led by former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman — has been vetting candidates for the top job, primarily among Disney’s executive ranks. 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 narrowed to D’Amaro and Walden in recent months.

“We looked at all comers, we wanted whoever got this job to be the best person,” Gorman told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin Tuesday, adding there were more than 100 people on the list of prospective candidates.

Walden, meanwhile, was named president and chief creative officer on Tuesday as part of the transition announcement. Also effective March 18, Walden is set to report directly to D’Amaro and focus on the storytelling and content engine of Disney in the newly created role.

“If you think about what is the heart of the Disney company, it’s creativity. It’s the amazing [intellectual property] that’s been produced over decades,” Gorman said Tuesday.

D’Amaro steps into the role at Disney after a period of leadership uncertainty and mixed reception from Wall Street on the state of Disney’s business. On Monday Disney reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped expectations — boosted by its theme parks and streaming — yet the stock lost 7%. Iger told investors he was confident in the changes made at Disney over the last three years and its path to future success.

In particular, the experiences unit that houses the theme parks, resorts and cruises, reported more than $10 billion in quarterly revenue during the period for the first time. The division’s growth has left it with plenty of room to run.

The company is planning to develop a new theme park and resort in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — separate from its commitment to invest $60 billion in its theme parks over the next decade — and is looking to capitalize on its dominance of the box office in 2025. But front and center remains the state of the entertainment business, as Disney navigates the erosion of traditional TV and puts its efforts behind marquee content and fueling profitability in the streaming business.

It will be up to Iger’s successor to steer Disney into its next phase.

Leading a media and theme park conglomerate like Disney is no easy task. Neither is taking over for Iger.

The storied CEO has been at the helm of Disney for roughly 20 years, pieced together by two stints. Iger first served as Disney’s CEO for 15 years — following a career at Disney’s broadcast network, ABC, and then in leadership roles at the parent company — before first stepping down in 2020.

In one swift announcement, Disney announced that Chapek, who had most recently served as chairman of Disney Parks, would take over as CEO. Iger’s announcement had come earlier than expected, and his successor pick generally surprised the industry.

During Iger’s first tenure at the helm, he oversaw acquisitions and revitalized the company into a powerhouse. When he left in 2020, his list of accomplishments was lengthy and included the recently launched streaming service Disney+, which initially amassed subscribers at a quick rate.

However, the handoff to Chapek was mired in drama and overshadowed by the Covid pandemic, which spurred stay-at-home orders that closed movie theaters and theme parks, although it was a boon to streaming.

Disney’s stock had soared early during the pandemic as its streaming subscriber numbers rose. But by late 2021, under Chapek, Disney’s share price began to fall as the company reported earnings misses and slower streaming growth compared with Wall Street expectations.

In late 2022, as criticism of Chapek’s management of Disney mounted, Iger reclaimed the top job. The announcement propelled the company’s stock, even as Iger’s agenda would include a restructuring of the company he’d left behind less than two years earlier.

In his second stint as CEO, Iger focused less on acquisitions and more on a massive restructuring that put into place $5.5 billion of cost cuts, enacted layoffs and created three main divisions of the company: Disney Entertainment; ESPN and Sports; and Parks, Experiences and Products.

“I’m incredibly proud of all that we’ve accomplished over the past three years to set Disney on the path to continued growth. I’m inspired and energized by the opportunities ahead for this wonderful company,” Iger told investors on Monday.

Iger also fended off an activist campaign, steered the TV and streaming business to profitability, returned Disney back to the top of the box office and announced a sweeping investment in its theme parks, arguably its most ironclad business.

While Iger worked to get the business back on track, the question of succession once again loomed large.

Soon after returning as CEO, Iger told CNBC he had no intention of staying on longer than two years.

Like previous times in which Iger said he intended to step down, his tentative departure date got pushed down the road. By mid-2023 Disney extended Iger’s deal by two years and said it would name a successor by early 2026.

The CEO previously said as part of his contract extension he wanted to “ensure 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.

On Tuesday, Gorman called it a “long, thorough, exhaustive process.” The entire Disney board was engaged in the process and worked closely with Iger, and also had external oversight, Gorman said.

Chapek, who previously served as D’Amaro’s boss, was not contacted to take part in the process and provide his thoughts on Disney’s next CEO, according to a person close to the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

Iger was initially set to hand over the reins at the end of 2026, but Tuesday’s announcement puts that transition much sooner than anticipated. Gorman recounted that after mentoring and developing the next Disney successor, Iger decided “to step aside.”

“He said, ‘I want to step aside and I want to work with this individual, with this team, in ensuring we get off for this next decade on the strongest possible foot.’ And he just felt earlier in the year was better to do it,” Gorman said.

In 2020, Iger handed off the CEO role to Chapek effective immediately, although he had stayed on as executive chairman of the board through the end of 2021. CNBC previously reported the two executives navigated power struggles well into Chapek’s tenure.

Gorman noted Tuesday he wasn’t part of Disney’s board during Iger’s first CEO handoff, but said he was confident in a smooth transition this time around.

“We won’t have the drama we had last time, that I can assure you,” Gorman told CNBC Tuesday.

“I don’t know what happened last time, and honestly, it sort of doesn’t matter. What matters is now,” he said.

— CNBC’s Julia Boorstin and Alex Sherman contributed to this report.