Disney expected to name parks chief Josh D’Amaro as next CEO: sources

Disney expected to name parks chief Josh D’Amaro as next CEO: sources

Disney’s board is expected to name theme park division chairman Josh D’Amaro to change Bob Iger as chief govt officer later this week, sources told The Post.

The board is expected to meet Tuesday and Wednesday before saying that D’Amaro, 54, will change longtime CEO Iger, who’s expected to step down at the end of this 12 months, a source with information told The Post.

D’Amaro, who has led the theme park unit that delivers most of Disney’s income since 2020, has widely been thought-about a top candidate to succeed 74-year-old Iger. His chief rival for the top put up, according to sources, has been Dana Walden, the Mouse House’s co-chair of leisure.

Disney’s board is shut to naming theme park division chairman Josh D’Amaro to the function of chief govt officer this week. VCG through Getty Images

According to Bloomberg, which first reported D’Amaro’s appointment, the Disney board might still change its thoughts.

“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 income of $25.98 billion. Wall Street expected EPS of $1.57 on income of $25.74 billion.

D’Amaro’s unit reported more than $10 billion in quarterly income for the first time — however that momentum is expected to slow down, to the dismay of Wall Street, as fewer worldwide vacationers are expected to go to home parks.

Nonetheless, D’Amaro’s appointment will deliver 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 profession ran a profitable CEO transition course of at Morgan Stanley.

Disney’s 4 divisional bosses — D’Amaro, leisure co-chairs Walden and Alan Bergman, and sports activities chair Jimmy Pitaro — have been all competing for the CEO gig since 2022.

Iger ran the world’s largest leisure big from 2005 to 2020, and returned to the top job in 2022. Getty Images

Iger, who ran the world’s largest leisure big from 2005 to 2020, returned to the top job in 2022 after his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, was ousted following a quick tenure.

At one point, Walden and D’Amaro had been seen as working neck and neck for the CEO gig, however 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 scorching 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 associates Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting said they wouldn’t air the present on their stations.

D’Amaro is slated to edge out leisure chair Dana Walden for the CEO function. AFP through Getty Images

Walden and Iger negotiated Kimmel’s return and the host was again on the air, giving a mea culpa of types — however stopping brief at a full-throated apology.

The complete ordeal put Walden in the news for a number of days — one thing 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. REUTERS

Assuming D’Amaro clinches the top job, one Disney whisperer expects the company to give Walden some form of elevated artistic function in hopes of holding her at the company.

D’Amaro joined Disney in 1998 after beforehand working at the Gillette razor company. He was promoted primarily by means of the company’s theme park ranks, working in management roles at resorts in California, Hong Kong and Florida.

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