Disney Expected to Name Parks Chief Josh D’Amaro as Next CEO, Replacing Longtime Boss Bob Iger: Sources
By Alexandra Steigrad
Disney’s board is expected to name theme park division chairman Josh D’Amaro to replace Bob Iger as chief executive officer later this week, sources told The Post.
The board is expected to meet Tuesday and Wednesday before announcing that D’Amaro, 54, will replace longtime CEO Iger, who is expected to step down at the end of this year, a source with knowledge told The Post.
D’Amaro, who has led the theme park unit that delivers most of Disney’s profits since 2020, has widely been considered a top candidate to succeed 74-year-old Iger. His chief rival for the top post, according to sources, has been Dana Walden, the Mouse House’s co-chair of entertainment.
Disney’s board is close to naming theme park division chairman Josh D’Amaro to the role of chief executive officer this week.
According to Bloomberg, which first reported D’Amaro’s appointment, the Disney board could still change its mind.
If D’Amaro clinches the top job, one Disney whisperer expects the company to give Walden some kind of elevated creative role in hopes of keeping her at the company.
“The board has not yet selected the next CEO of the Walt Disney Co. and once that decision is made, we will announce it,” a Disney rep said.
Shares of Disney sank over 6% Monday — despite the fact that the company beat analysts’ first-quarter expectations. Disney reported adjusted earnings of $1.63 on revenue of $25.98 billion. Wall Street expected EPS of $1.57 on revenue of $25.74 billion.
Iger ran the world’s largest entertainment giant from 2005 to 2020, and returned to the top job in 2022.
D’Amaro’s unit reported more than $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time — but that momentum is expected to slow down, to the dismay of Wall Street, as fewer international tourists are expected to visit domestic parks.
Nonetheless, D’Amaro’s appointment will bring some certainty to the Mouse House and end a three-year CEO search, which since 2024 has been led by Disney chairman James Gorman, who earlier in his career ran a successful CEO transition process at Morgan Stanley.
Disney’s four divisional bosses — D’Amaro, entertainment co-chairs Walden and Alan Bergman, and sports chair Jimmy Pitaro — were all competing for the CEO gig since 2022.
Iger, who ran the world’s largest entertainment giant from 2005 to 2020, returned to the top job in 2022 after his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, was ousted following a brief tenure.
D’Amaro is slated to edge out entertainment chair Dana Walden for the CEO role.
At one point, Walden and D’Amaro had been seen as running neck and neck for the CEO gig, but the success of the theme parks unit and a messy public blowup over the future of Disney-owned ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” put Walden in the hot seat.
Walden briefly pulled Kimmel off the air after the late-night host made a controversial joke about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel refused to apologize as ABC affiliates Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting said they wouldn’t air the show on their stations.
Walden and Iger negotiated Kimmel’s return and the host was back on the air, giving a mea culpa of sorts — but stopping short at a full-throated apology.
The whole ordeal put Walden in the news for several days — something Disney tends to frown upon — even though the exec is well-liked and well-respected in Hollywood.
Disney chair James Gorman spearheaded the CEO successor search.
D’Amaro joined Disney in 1998 after previously working at the Gillette razor company. He was promoted primarily through the company’s theme park ranks, working in leadership roles at resorts in California, Hong Kong and Florida.
