Disney has named its parks chief Josh D’Amaro to replace Bob Iger as the entertainment company’s CEO.
D’Amaro will be the ninth CEO in the company’s more than 100-year history. He has overseen the company’s theme parks, resorts and resorts since 2020. The experiences division is already Disney’s biggest money maker, with $36 billion in annual revenue by fiscal year 2025 and 185,000 employees worldwide.
The 54-year-old is taking a break when Disney is full of box office hits Zootopia 2 again Image: Fire and Ashes and its broadcasting business is strong. But Disney and other legacy studios are stumbling at Hollywood’s critical moment. The rise of artificial AI, the consolidation of broadcasting and production giants, and perceived interference from the US government in the operations of entertainment companies have thrown the industry into turmoil.
Disney’s next executive decision comes nearly four years after the company’s decision to replace Iger went awry, forcing him to return to work.
Just two years after stepping down as CEO, Iger returned in 2022 after a period of conflict, mistakes and financial instability under his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek.
This time, Disney searched for its next CEO very carefully. The company formed a succession planning committee in 2023, but the search began in earnest in 2024 when it tapped Gorman, who previously served as Morgan Stanley’s executive chairman, to lead the effort. That still gives you ample opportunity to evaluate candidates, as Iger has agreed to a contract extension.
Disney said Iger will continue to serve as a senior adviser and board member until he retires from the company at the end of the year.
Aggregation, interference and money
The change comes amid a period of turmoil and scrutiny for the company. Iger, who? he once considered running for the presidency of the United States against Donald Trumphe saw his company in the headlines late last year. As the parent company of ABC, Disney was widely criticized deciding to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! after host Kimmel said on air that the alleged shooter of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk — who was killed in September 2025 — was a member of the “MAGA gang.”
Kimmel’s comments drew the ire of US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chief Brendan Carr, as well as station owners Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group. The two companies – which jointly control about a quarter of ABC’s US affiliates – decided to stop airing the show on their channels, before Disney briefly pulled the plug. from the air.
The conflict has raised serious questions about whether the Trump administration has put itself in a position to influence entertainment companies. Kimmel’s on-air comments, which were directed at the “MAGA gang,” were widely seen as a criticism of Republicans.
US President Donald Trump has welcomed the suspension of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, sparking a debate about free speech and whether the White House is using its power to silence critics.
Then and now, Nexstar was in the process of acquiring media company Tegna. That merger would give it the power to control America’s airwaves, thus requiring FCC approval. Sinclair has appealed to the controller to approve that agreementcalling the future of the domestic broadcasting industry depends on it.
Earlier, Paramount was criticized for its decision to pay $16 million to the US to settle the issue with Trump for an interview with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris on the show. 60 Minutes. Critics have slammed the settlement as a thinly veiled attempt to ensure the company’s $8 billion merger with Skydance.
At the time, its closeness to the White House raised concerns about the agency’s independence, should it succeed An aggressive takeover bid by Warner Bros.
Disney’s ABC News similarly settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump in late 2024, donating US$15 billion to his library. And at the time of Kimmel’s downfall, Disney also needed government approval to acquire its own, like ESPN’s, division. recently closed a mega-deal with the NFL.
The decision to pull Kimmel’s show came after Carr said on a podcast that the FCC “could do this the easy way or the hard way,” regarding how the commission would handle the situation. Trump suggested that the TV networks covered him badly they can have their licenses revokedwhile also posting online that transport take Jimmy Kimmel Live! going off the air was “good American news.”
Disney says it will bring back Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the late-night talk show was suspended last week because of host Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about the reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder.
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner call those threats “He’s angry but he’s empty.” Still, the fallout — largely aimed at Disney trucking to Trump — was swift. Kimmel’s fellow talk show hosts, as well as others in the industry, ignored the movement, sometimes on their own shows.
Comedian John Oliver addressed one song directly at Iger on his show, saying the “cowards” who stuck to Trump’s will will be remembered badly in history. Singer Sarah McLachlan subsequently canceled the premiere of her Disney+-produced film Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery “in support of free speech.” When Kimmel was brought back on the air, he done in its first episode.
And – aside from the protests and the many calls for a boycott against Disney to the public – a shareholder group later sent a letter seeking material related to Iger’s decision to stop Kimmel’s show.
In that book, they said the company’s stock had fallen “amid fears of brand damage and concerns that Disney was complicit in government submissions and media censorship.”
External, internal candidates
While outsiders were being considered to replace Iger, it was widely expected that Disney would look internally for the next CEO. The upside would be that Iger was already advising Disney executives, and that they would have extensive contact with the company’s 15 board members, including Iger himself.
Disney is unique in that its chief executive must oversee a sprawling entertainment company with branches that reach far and wide, while operating as a relative unknown to the public.
D’Amaro and Disney Entertainmentco chairman Dana Walden quickly emerged as the front runners for the top job.
D’Amaro, who has been with Disney since 1998, has spearheaded Disney’s $60-billion US investment in its cruise ships, resorts and theme parks. He also oversees Walt Disney Imagineering, which oversees the design and development of the company’s theme parks, resorts, cruise ships, and immersive experiences around the world. D’Amaro has been leading Disney’s licensing business, which includes its relationship with Epic Games.
During that time, Walden, who most recently served as chairman of Disney Entertainment, helped oversee Disney’s broadcast business, as well as its entertainment sources, news and content divisions. He joined Disney in 2019. Prior to that, he spent 25 years at 21st Century Fox and was CEO of Fox Television Group.
Walden will now step into the newly created role of chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Co. He will report to D’Amaro.
There has been speculation that Disney may go the route of naming CEOs, a move that has become popular at companies including Oracle and Spotify.
D’Amaro and Walden’s hires are effective March 18.
