The “white smoke” has finally emerged from Disney 's castle. The company announced on Tuesday, February 3rd, that Josh D'Amaro will be its new CEO, replacing Bob Iger , with investors questioning whether, this time, the succession process will be successful.
At 54 years old, with 28 years dedicated to the company, D'Amaro was unanimously elected by the board of directors and is expected to assume the position after the shareholders' meeting, scheduled for March 18. Iger will serve as a senior consultant and board member until the end of his contract on December 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 for the Disney brand and a deep understanding of what resonates with our audience, coupled with the rigor and attention to detail needed to deliver some of our most ambitious projects.”
In his new role, D'Amaro will have to prove he is the right successor after the failure of the previous process. In 2020, after 15 years at the helm of the company, Iger was replaced by Bob Chapek , then head of Disney parks.
Less than two years later, Chapek was fired amid a mutiny by top executives and disappointing results during the pandemic, leading the board to call Iger back.
The return, however, had a defined timeframe . Disney devised a strategy to ensure the selection of the new CEO would proceed as smoothly as possible. The process was overseen by the chairman of the board, James Gorman , who joined in 2024 after successfully managing the succession at Morgan Stanley.
D'Amaro will take over amid investor demands for growth, as the share price has fallen by almost half from its 2021 peak and has remained stagnant for three years, according to calculations by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) . In 12 months, the shares have accumulated a drop of 18.4%, to US$ 35.82, reducing the market value to US$ 182.7 billion.
This situation was one of the factors that led activist investorNelson Peltz to launch a campaign against Iger. In the end, the experienced Disney executive prevailed .
Currently, D'Amaro is head of the theme parks and cruise lines division, a sector where he has spent most of his career and which has become Disney's main source of profit – in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, which ended on December 27, it accounted for 72% of consolidated operating profit of US$4.6 billion.
Current and former Disney employees interviewed by the WSJ considered D'Amaro the most likely candidate to succeed Iger, due to his experience in the segment the company is betting on to drive growth, which is based more on prices than on visitor volume. Disney even warned of a possible drop in park visits due to visa restrictions imposed by the Trump administration.
A source told the newspaper that D'Amaro also intends to increase the weight of video games in the company. He was one of the main advocates for the $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games in 2024.
Another challenge will be the entertainment unit. Although smaller than those for theme parks and cruises, it is responsible for creating the characters and stories that underpin the attractions.
Her competitor for the position, Dana Walden, was considered a strong candidate precisely because of her experience in this area. She joined Disney in 2019, after the acquisition of the Fox portfolio, and achieved good results in boosting Disney+ and Hulu , even though the numbers are lower than the peak of television in the 2010s.
Disney ended up creating a new position for Walden: chief creative officer, responsible for overseeing all of the company's films and series. His mission will not be easy, considering that the main franchises, Marvel and Star Wars , have not performed as well as in previous years.
