Disney taps Josh D'Amaro as next CEO
Josh D'Amaro will be the next CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
D'Amaro will take over from current CEO Bob Iger at as of March 18. As Chairman of Disney Experiences, D'Amaro oversees Disney's theme parks worldwide.
Josh D'Amaro at the opening of World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland
"Josh D’Amaro is an exceptional leader and the right person to become our next CEO," Iger said. "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."
D'Amaro's rival for the CEO job, Dana Walden, Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, will become the President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company, also effective March 18. Walden will report directly to D'Amaro. Iger will remain with the company as Senior Advisor until the end of the year.
"I am immensely grateful to the Board for entrusting me with leading a company that means so much to me and millions around the world," D’Amaro said. "Disney’s strength has always come from our people and the creative excellence that defines our stories and experiences. There is no limit to what Disney can achieve, and I am excited to work with our teams across the company and brilliant creative partners to honor Disney’s remarkable legacy while continuing to innovate, grow, and deliver exceptional value for our consumers and shareholders. I also want to express my gratitude to Bob Iger for his generous mentorship, his friendship, and the profound impact of his leadership."
This the second time that Disney has turned to its parks leader to replace Iger. The last attempt at succession saw Bob Chapek take over from Iger in early 2020, only for the Disney board to dump Chapek and ask Iger to return a little over two years later.
But while Chapek turned out to be a poor fit with Disney's other creative and financial leaders, Disney's theme park and experiences segment remains the engine that drives the company, generating $36 billion in annual revenue last year. With consistent profitability and strong return on investment, the parks and cruise line have helped Disney to rise to the top of Hollywood as the only major studio left that has not been bought by an outside company.
D'Amaro also has shown the ability to lead by winning allies and admirers, in contrast to Chapek's more introverted style. For a glimpse at D'Amaro's style, read my most recent one-on-one interview with Josh: Exclusive Interview With Josh D'Amaro on Today's Disney Changes.
D'Amaro's appointment raises the question of who will replace him as head of Disney Experiences. Candidates include Disney Signature Experiences President Joe Schott, Disney Experiences EVP and CFO Michael Moriarty, Disney Parks International President Jill Estorino, and the person who replaced D'Amaro the last time he was promoted, Walt Disney World Resort President Jeff Vahle.
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Replies (31)
The announcement that Dana Walden, has been also been promoted to President and Chief Creative Officer creates a partnership that would seem to ensure the entertainment division has a seat at the table.
Now all they need is for former Jungle Cruise skipper Joe Schott to succeed D'Amaro as Chairman of Disney Experiences.
James Gorman stays as Chairman of the Board. Hugh Johnston remains as CFO.
To think, it was only 6 years ago around this same time that Iger abruptly stepped down and put Chapek in charge, presumably because he knew the devastating impact the COVID pandemic was going to have on the company. Hopefully D’Amaro isn’t being similarly thrown under the bus and can rise to any challenge that Disney faces in the years to come.
This is about as unsurprising a big corporate succession announcement as could be expected. It’s a great move in my opinion. Disney is wise to lean on its most profitable divisions, parks and travel. Walden would seem to be shouldering the load of the entertainment media arm, and that’s a formidable compliment to D’Amaro’s Parks experience. It will be interesting to see how Disney will walk the line of inevitable AI permeating the industry and how to balance that with their true strength, their people.
Well he has spectacular hair for the job…
@Kris V: I must say, based on your profile picture, you above everyone else know what it means to have "spectacular hair".
Is he a pick up trash guy, or a walk over trash guy?
>> Hopefully D’Amaro isn’t being similarly thrown under the bus and can rise to any challenge that Disney faces in the years to come.
Well Disney are now talking about “headwinds” around international visitors attending domestic parks.
Chad H that all depends on how his back is feeling that day! LOL
He is very much a "pick up trash" guy. Robert can probably speak to this better than I have, but I will say that I have heard a lot of positive things from people who work on the "front lines" at the parks. He treats people well and they feel heard and respected by him. That absolutely matters in a company as service-based as Disney is these days.
How does any of that translate to being the CEO of a major company? Hell if I know. Hoping for the best, though.
This is what I would call the safe choice. That doesn't mean it's a bad move, but it does mean I don't expect any radical changes from the company, at least in the near term. With Disney no longer enjoying the level of respect it once deserved and with more and more alternatives in the marketplace, it's going to be interesting to see if the company under D'Amaro will continue to maintain the same level of dominance over competitors.
I hope he puts some money in the entertainment division. Disney is going to have a very hard time building IP- based rides if they don't have new IPs to base them on. . .after all, Indiana Jones and Monsters Inc haven't been relevant for years (besides dial of destiny but that was a flop) but they're still scraping those up out of the barrel.
Great photo of Josh on the TPI front page. He looks fantastic! Especially ... Oh wait ... He's the guy on the right ... I was talking about the guy on the left ... Carry on.
I mean being the CEO for Disney has to be one of the easiest jobs out there. Raise prices by 6% annually, find a beloved perk to take away, make worse, or charge for, build more rooms to keep full parks full and add more events to upcharge regular days, and when you get backlash announce the next anniversary and drag some old floats out for a parade and all is forgiven. Then let the skyhigh prices bring in record revenue, sit back and look like a genius. Oh forgot build a new cruise ship..add that too. I don't have fantastic hair though.. I could run six flags though my hair is definitely six flags hair.
Our paths crossed a few times at Disney in his various roles, and I think he is popular with the employees for many of the same reasons Bob Iger is. He's a nice guy, a lot of people find him physically attractive (I know that sounds irrelevant, but my god people wouldn't shut up about it), and he makes an effort to be visible to the Cast Members and Guests. He's basically the exact opposite from Bob Chapek, who everybody hated from day one.
The main thing I remember about working in the parks with him around is that a lot of people sucked up to him because he was obviously being groomed to be one of the top execs in the company. Basically everyone knew he was going to be president of the parks/resorts, or at least president of WDW. In the span of like 10 years he went from being in charge of Adventures by Disney, to being in charge of Animal Kingdom, to being in charge of Resorts & Transportation, to being in charge of DLR, to being in charge of WDW, and then finally being in charge of the entire destinations business of the company. So whenever he was around everyone tried to be around him and make themself look good...TBH it was annoying (though not really his fault).
I guess i'm a little more practical on things like this. It's impossible to know what he's going to do because while these executives are in those roles they are always towing the company line. Take Bob Iger for example, who everyone thought was going to be a continuation of the Eisner strategy but he turned out to be totally different once he had the authority to do so. I will say i'm not really happy with the direction the parks have taken over the past 10 years or so and i'm not sure how much of the blame to allocate towards Iger/Chapek/D'Amaro each...but a lot of the changes they made they won't go back on because they make so much money off of it (paid Fastpass, for example).
If you are interested in getting an idea about Josh D'Amaro's management style (having presence in the parks and interacting with guests) I would reccomend reading Dan Cockerell's book "How's the Culture in your Kingdom"? It's exceptional.
I don't know much about D'Amaro but if it's true he was in charge of animal kingdom for a while then that's excellent news. Animal kingdom is a beautiful park and all of its rides stay true to its mission (yes, even dinoland. . .). If D'Amaro was involved in the making of Pandora at all then I have high hopes for the future of Disney.
Why Why Why was TH Creatrive Not given this Job?
He knows all about Disney and is qualified....
@VelocicoasterFan, he did indeed lead Animal Kingdom for a time- I worked at DAK when he was in charge and he was an amazing, inspirational leader. And he was involved in the process to bring Pandora to DAK. From a Wall Street Journal article today:
At Animal Kingdom, many cast members were skeptical of plans to add a land based on the Avatar movies to a park focused on wildlife. “Josh didn’t just recognize the value of the new land, but of rallying the team around the ‘why’ behind it,” said Jim MacPhee. “He cared about commitment, not compliance.”
“Josh didn’t just recognize the value of the new land, but of rallying the team around the ‘why’ behind it,”
I've found that the best leaders have done this, and inspired their direct-reports on the basis for their work to provide meaning and understanding. Too many business leaders fall back on buzzwords with no direct connection to what employees do, which just reinforces the understanding that the business exists to make money. Yes, everyone knows that, but the leaders that are able to connect with employees to inspire that what they're doing has purpose beyond lining the pockets of shareholders, those are the ones that achieve true success.
A story from today exemplifies this exact same concept: The Washington Post (my local newspaper) announced this morning that it was eliminating its venerated Sports Section (one that produced dozens of Pulitzer Prizes and featured some of the most famous sportswriters in the world) citing finances - this after cutting its Metro Section (local news) that lead to a dramatic wave of cancellation of subscriptions from once-loyal local readers. Overall, 1 in 3 Post employees were impacted by today's cuts in some way (either through direct lay-off or shifting of responsibilities).
The Post has been owned by Jeff Bezos (multi-billionaire owner of Amazon) for a number of years with the renewed promise that "Democracy Dies in Darkness" emblazoned on the masthead, a phrase coined by Post legend Bob Woodward. But lacking true leadership, Bezos' promise was hollow with the reality that financial results would be the primary driver of decisions at the renowned paper. The thought that money dictated coverage was something exclusive to the tabloids (and Fox News), yet one of the pillars of journalism in America is slowly falling prey to greed and financial influence. The reality is that the financial results of the Post are the equivalent of a rounding error on Bezos' balance sheet, yet his leadership is more interested in saving what would be pennies to you and I than trying to preserve the integrity of the 4th Estate that Bezos claimed when he bought the paper, much like what Chapek promised at the beginning of his failed tenure.
If D'Amaro is truly the person these many anecdotes suggests he is, Disney should be in good hands. Hopefully these stories are true, and he was not just being the nice guy in the suit climbing the corporate ladder.
He was VP of Animal Kingdom for like a year, like I said earlier it was more of a grooming thing for him than it was for him to make a specific impact on the park. He didn't have much to do with Avatar as that was an Iger move to sign that contract, and then Joe Rohde (with heavy influence from James Cameron and his people) did pretty much everything on the creative and design side.
>>The Post has been owned by Jeff Bezos (multi-billionaire owner of Amazon) for a number of years with the renewed promise that "Democracy Dies in Darkness"
The Warning has become the plan.
The Uncreative - congratulations on the most creative post in the thread. Love it!
@ProfPlum- Thanks, honestly the talk around him seems to be positive so hopefully he brings more to the table than what I imagined.
@TH I ordered the book you mentioned! I'm excited to read it.
@chad h:
It’s a chilling thought. And one that’s becoming harder and harder to shake.
Brian: "Why Why Why was TH Creatrive Not given this Job?"
Me: Didn't apply for it. And it's spelled "Creative".
@theuncreative: Dan Cockerell was an exceptional manager and an impressive leader. He started working in the parking lot at Walt Disney World. He eventually moved into resorts and then was shipped over to Paris. Rising through the management and executive ranks he eventually ran Disney Hollywood Studios, EPCOT and retired as the Vice President overseeing the Magic Kingdom.
His book emphasizes quality guest service. He was adored by WDW CMs. He's now the CEO of Torrens University in Australia.
Sorry Russel - But Jeff Bezos only owns 8% of Amazon stock - It is a public company
TH Creative - So sorry for the fat finger Keystroke - I hope you did not loose any sleep. I will kneel on a frozen pea for my penance....
Democracy is already dead - But will come back as soon as Canckles Mcbruised throws a 7 this year.
"Sorry Russel - But Jeff Bezos only owns 8% of Amazon stock - It is a public company"
Actually, he reportedly owns 9-10% of the stock as of the beginning of 2026, but is the largest individual shareholder, thus considered the primary "owner" of the company. Nonetheless, he could theoretically own just a single share of Amazon, and saying he was the "owner" would not be an incorrect statement - perhaps adding "and founder" would be more accurate. FWIW, even most privately held companies don't have a singular owner that controls 100% of the business, or an individual that owns a majority-stake in the company.
Do you have something to say that actually contributes to the topic of D'Amaro taking over the reigns as Disney CEO? While my anecdote was a bit tangential, it was relevant given the discussion of leadership styles particularly given Disney's last attempt to succeed Iger as CEO.
Yes Russel I am heavy into stocks - I know a lot more than most.
Stocks - contracts - shorts - calls - puts - I do all of it.
I was simply correcting a mistake saying or typing Bezos Owns AMZN - Which I have owned shares for 15 years now..
So I am an Owner of it also....
You in fact said "Jeff Bezos (multi-billionaire owner of Amazon)' and I said he is not The owner - he is an Owner. But he is an owner of the Stock.
Just semantics I guess...
Yes I will contribute to D'Amaro - I know Nothing about him.. There, Happy.
lol give me a break
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Shocker, and water is wet. The signs of this have been everywhere, and this is probably the best choice given the circumstances. D'Amaro is entering a pretty tough time for Disney, and hopefully was paying attention during the Chapek years. While he comes from a Parks background, I wonder if he will overcompensate for his natural tendencies to be park-focused in putting more attention to the entertainment division.