Disney Expected to Announce New CEO Next Month
There is potential for a co-CEO appointment.
According to a recent article by the LA Times, the next head of the House of Mouse is expected to be announced next month.
What’s Happening:
- Disney leadership has been somewhat of a mess over the past decade.
- After Bob Iger abdicated the CEO throne in 2020, Bob Chapek was quickly faced with unprecedented challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic and a political war with the state of Florida.
- Adding fuel to the fire, several business missteps under Chapek forced Iger to reassume his position as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, reigning in the mess Chapek had created and helping, temporarily, lead the company towards a better future.
- While that’s a rather crude explanation of the chain of events (you can read a more detailed look at what happened here), Iger only returned temporarily to help bring Disney back into the magic and hand it off to someone new.
- In his final year of his tenure, speculation has been running wild surrounding who will head The Walt Disney Company come 2027, and according to the LA Times, the new CEO(s?) will be announced next month.
- Currently, the favorite from both Wall Street and Disney Parks fans is Disney Experiences head Josh D’Amaro.
- Spearheading the current $60 billion expansion across Disney Parks and Disney Cruise Line, D’Amaro has been incredibly successful at working as both the business end of the business as well as his hands on approach as President of Disneyland Resort.
- On the other hand, Television and Streaming head Dana Walden, Movie Studio head Alan Berman, and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro are also vying for the position.
- With Disney’s broad business model, the new CEO will have to be able to juggle Disney Parks and Experiences and Disney’s wide array of movie and television studios, video game experiences, and more.
- Some rumors suggest that Disney may go back to its highly successful co-CEO model ala Walt and Roy and Eisner and Wells.
- D’Amaro and Walden have been rumored to be the leading candidates for that possibility.
- While Iger has a long history of not taking his hand off the wheel, which can even be seen with the Chapek transition, hopefully this new era of Disney will be a smoother transition than in years past.
- And, personally, I hope the new CEO invests in original and bold ideas in every aspect of Disney.
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