The four Disney executives who could succeed Bob Iger as CEO in two years
Meg James Ryan Faughnder Samantha Masunaga Stephen Battaglio April 4, 2024
Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger has prevailed in the company’s shareholder fight against billionaire dissident Nelson Peltz. But the celebrated executive’s most challenging task still looms:
selecting
someone to
who can
fill his
big
shoes.
The 73-year-old chief is set to retire in 2026 assuming he steps down as planned.
For decades, succession planning
has been among the Burbank giant’s most vexing
issues. During Iger’s first, highly successful 15-year run, he delayed his planned retirement multiple times, and potential successors, including former Chief Operating Officer Tom Staggs, left the company in frustration.
Peltz and others pointed to the bungled hand-off to parks head Bob Chapek as proof that Disney’s board of directors, who oversee the succession process, weren’t up to the job. Chapek’s tumultuous tenure lasted less than three years; Iger returned in late 2022 to replace him.
Peltz’s failed bid to join the board
gives Iger and the board some breathing room as they assess candidates to eventually take over the storied company. But shareholders, during the contentious proxy campaign, made it clear that Disney can’t whiff succession again. Succession is “the board’s No. 1 priority,”
during an appearance on business channel CNBC. Leading the process is Disney Chair Mark Parker. The company’s succession committee also includes General Motors Co. CEO Mary T. Barra, Morgan Stanley Executive Chair James P. Gorman and Calvin R. McDonald, chief of Lululemon Athetica Inc. The group met seven times last year to address succession, Iger said, and they “intend to meet even more this year.” “They are confident they will choose the right person at the right time. And they have some time to do that,” Iger said. “But it again, they’re treating it with a sense of urgency because it is so important.”
Disney historically promotes from within,
and but board members currently are looking at potential external candidate
s as well as four top executives: Disney Entertainment co-Chair Dana Walden, who oversees television
and streaming
; fellow entertainment co-Chair Alan Bergman, who runs the film studios
(Walden and Bergman share oversight of streaming)
; parks, products and experiences czar Josh D’Amaro; and ESPN boss James Pitaro.
Corporate bake-offs can be fraught. Passed-over executives often depart, and Disney cannot afford to have an exodus of its top talent at such a crucial moment as it tries to transition its television business to streaming. More than a decade ago, Time Warner lost two key executives when it chose from among
executives to lead that Burbank studio.
Disney’s leading contenders have their own areas of expertise, as well as
their own
blind spots. None has
the
experience of running a
$220-billion,
multifaceted media and entertainment empire such as Disney. But then again, neither did Iger before he ascended to the throne in 2005.
Disney executives declined to comment for this story.Here are the leading contenders:Dana Walden, boss of all TV
One of the savviest executives in Hollywood, Dana Walden oversees a vast portfolio of properties and programming crucial to Disneys legacy TV business and its streaming future
, Disney+ and Hulu
. Shes in charge of Disneys television studios,
the
ABC network, ABC News, childrens and young adult programming, Freeform, National Geographic, FX and Hulu Originals.
Walden arrived at Disney five years ago when the company bought much of Rupert Murdochs 21st Century Fox. One of Igers motivations for the deal was to boost Disneys TV executive talent by bringing over successful Fox personnel
executives
, including Walden, FXs John Landgraf and former TV head Peter Rice.
The pricey Fox acquisition, while lambasted by Peltz and others, gave Disney a programming arsenal to support its streaming ambitions.
Among the four CEO candidates, Walden may be the most
similar to like Iger in terms of career trajectory and soft touch with talent
. He climbed the rungs of the ABC
television broadcast
network before ascending to Disneys No. 2 job in 2000. Like Iger, Walden is a skilled manager and polished communicator who instinctively understands creative executives. She has deep relationships with, and the respect of, Hollywoods producers, writers and other talent. She grew up in Studio City and got her start in television as a publicist
(including a stint promoting Arsenio Hall)
.
Waldens long collaboration with Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Crime Story and the Feud franchise) has proved beneficial as he now is working more closely with Disney
following a stint at Netflix
. Walden also was instrumental in bringing the Kardashians to Hulu from their cable home on the E! Channel.
She has presided over a
revitalization
of Disneys youth programming after a fallow stretch, with the popular Percy Jackson & the Olympians
and
Goosebumps
and Bluey,
Disney+,
shows that are core to Disneys family entertainment brand.
The 59-year-old executive could become Disneys first female CEO. Perhaps the biggest knock on Walden is that she didnt come up through Disneys ranks, leading some in the rank and file to question whether enough Mickey Mouse DNA is present in her cells. She’d also have to overcome the perception that she’s “just” a TV exec.
Alan Bergman, the non-flashy studio chief
At Disneys core, it all comes back to movies, and it’s been that way since Walt and Roy Disney founded their studio in 1923.
To this day, theatrical film drives most
other parts of the business, including theme park attractions and toy sales.
As such, entertainment co-Chair Alan Bergman, 58, sits atop an extraordinarily important part of the company, shepherding storied brands including Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm and Searchlight Pictures (known for recent four-time Oscar winner “Poor Things“).
Bergman is a true Disney veteran with a deep and detailed understanding of business and finance, having joined the company in 1996. He was promoted to president of Walt Disney Studios in 2005 and fully took over the division in 2020, succeeding Alan Horn after a period of unprecedented box office success, including hits such as Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Hes not flashy. A UCLA graduate in business economics, Bergman has avoided the spotlight, preferring to let his deputies, such as Marvels Kevin Feige and Disney Animations Jennifer Lee, take their due credit. Yet he commands the respect of those high-powered creatives
and has worked for years with the likes of Peter Jackson, James Cameron and Ryan Coogler
.
Bergman
, like his counterparts,
has his hands full. Lately, the studios have suffered from a number of high-profile flops, including The Marvels and “Haunted Mansion.” Even last years The Little Mermaid, which was hammered by racist online attacks, struggled to achieve the heights of past remakes from the Disney vault. The studios particularly Marvel were stretched painfully thin by a mandate to crank out material for Disney+, and that showed in the waning quality of the superhero franchise.
Efforts are underway to get Disneys all-important theatrical film business back on track. Iger has allowed his division heads, including Bergman, to slow their output and focus on quality over quantity. This years Disney slate includes big franchise extensions: Inside Out 2, a Moana sequel and Mufasa: The Lion King.
Josh D’Amaro, keeper of the Magic Kingdom To legions of superfans, the charismatic Josh D’Amaro is Mr. Disney.
Since joining the company in 1998 in a position at the Disneyland Resort, DAmaro has steadily climbed the corporate ladder. Under his leadership, the parks have embarked on major capital projects, including new lands such as Star Wars: Galaxys Edge and the Avengers Campus.
Today, DAmaro, 53, serves as chair
man
of Disney Experiences, giving him an expansive portfolio that includes oversight of the companys theme parks, its
famed
Imagineering division, Disneys cruise line
and other travel opportunities
and its consumer products
sector
(think Baby Yoda dolls and Elsa dresses).
In all, DAmaro is in charge of 180,000 employees,
many of whom are unionized or part time,
meaning hes used to leading large teams
and wildly capital-intensive initiatives
. The parks are Disneys biggest profit center, showing he can navigate a massive budget. The “experiences” segment accounted for 60% of Disney’s operating income during the most recent fiscal year.
He’s in charge of a roughly
to expand Disney’s parks, a huge bet on live, in-person entertainment. It’s a challenging, multi-pronged job that comes with hazards. D’Amaro recently had to navigate the fallout over Disney’s
with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.
But he’s popular with Disney’s
enthusiastic and demanding fans
, which helps. Disney guests will often stop him in the parks and ask for selfies, or query him about park design decisions. His presentations at Disney fan convention D23 are always well-attended.
One knock against him is his lack of direct experience with film and TV, as his entire career has been in the experiences sector, particularly the parks.
But
There is
recent
precedent for a CEO coming out of the parks division,
though it didn’t work out so well.
After all, DAmaro ascended to his current position after Chapek was named Disney CEO.
But D’Amaro has the kind of Disney spark that Chapek never did.Jimmy Pitaro, sports supreme
When ESPN Chair
man
Jimmy Pitaro took the reins of the sports cable giant in 2018, he inherited a division beset by shrinking TV ratings while cord-cutting was eroding its ability to reach viewers. ESPN’s hosts were under fire over the political discourse on its talk shows in the wake of President Trump’s 2016 victory.
Pitaro, 54, who previously led Disneys consumer products and interactive media division, is credited with calming the waters and preparing the network for the future by increasing its digital prowess and growing its social media presence to keep it relevant with younger viewers.
To
further that aim, hes overseeing the launch of ESPN’s long-awaited direct-to-consumer product, which by the fall of 2025 will give consumers access to its full suite of channels, including the flagship ESPN. Ratings at the ESPN cable channel have improved, despite dramatic declines in pay-TV subscriptions.
Pitaro is also credited with repairing ESPN’s relationship with the NFL
(whose games are America’s most-watched TV programming)
, helping to pave the way for a new 11-year media rights deal with the league that gives the company two Super Bowls that will air on Disney’s ABC broadcast network. ESPN has also secured the media rights to its major live events for the rest of the decade, with only the NBA contract up in 2025 remaining as its next major test.
That said, sports is a smaller segment within Disney than either entertainment or parks
in terms of revenue
. It wasnt long ago that analysts wondered if ESPN would even be part of Disneys empire for the long term. When Iger seemed to muse aloud about spinning off ESPN, though, Pitaro was said to be a good soldier and didn’t complain.
The idea of cleaving ESPN from Disney no longer appears to be under serious consideration.
at Disneyand
Iger has begun touting the unit’s strong financial performance again. Though Pitaro is well-liked within the company, hed be a novice in the Hollywood side of the business.
But he’s comfortable with show business types. His wife, Jean Louisa Kelly, is a veteran film actress.
