Disney CEO succession set: Josh D’Amaro to replace Bob Iger in March
Disney confirmed Tuesday, February 3, 2026 (ET) that it has picked Josh D’Amaro as its next Disney CEO, ending a long-running succession search and setting a clear handoff date of March 18, 2026. The decision pairs a parks-and-experiences operator at the top with a powerful creative counterpart: Dana Walden will step into a newly expanded enterprise-wide role overseeing storytelling and creative direction.
The leadership move landed as investors are weighing mixed signals across the business—strong profit from experiences and improving streaming economics, offset by concerns about international travel demand and near-term volatility in Disney stock.
Disney CEO transition details
The company said D’Amaro, 54, will formally take over at the annual meeting on March 18, 2026, and will be appointed to the board immediately afterward. Bob Iger, 74, is expected to remain as senior advisor and a board member through December 31, 2026, creating a longer runway for the new chief executive to settle in while keeping continuity with major partners and internal teams.
Walden’s appointment is designed to complement D’Amaro’s résumé. As President and Chief Creative Officer, she will report directly to him and carry enterprise responsibility for ensuring that creative strategy and storytelling are consistent across the company’s many consumer touchpoints, from studios to streaming to experiences. The title is described as a first-of-its-kind role for the enterprise, effectively formalizing a “creative spine” alongside the CEO’s operational authority.
Why Josh D’Amaro rose to the top
D’Amaro has run Disney Experiences since 2020, a segment that includes theme parks, resorts, cruise operations, consumer products, and the company’s large-scale “immersive” expansion pipeline. In recent years, experiences has been Disney’s most reliable profit engine, and his supporters inside the company have pointed to two differentiators: capital discipline on massive projects, and a track record of translating franchises into high-margin physical destinations.
His portfolio is also unusually broad for an internal candidate. Beyond parks and cruises, his remit has included consumer products and licensing, and he has been closely tied to the push toward interactive and digital extensions of Disney’s brands. That combination—physical growth plus brand monetization—helps explain why the board leaned toward him in a moment when entertainment economics are shifting quickly.
Dana Walden’s expanded role
Dana Walden entered the succession conversation as a top internal contender, and the structure announced Tuesday makes clear she remains central to Disney’s future. Her new remit is meant to reach beyond any single studio label or distribution channel and focus on a unified creative strategy.
That matters because Disney’s business model depends on a “flywheel” effect: films and series build characters, characters drive consumer products and theme-park demand, and the parks reinforce fandom that feeds back into streaming and theatrical. Walden’s job, as laid out, is to keep that engine aligned—especially as the company pursues more cross-platform franchise development and tries to protect brand consistency at global scale.
Disney stock reacts as investors weigh timing
Disney stock reflected the push-pull between a “clean succession” headline and broader worries about the next few quarters. As of 9:17 a.m. ET on Tuesday, shares traded around $104.45, down about 7.3% from the prior close, after a sharp selloff a day earlier tied to concerns over international visitor demand in the parks business.
The market’s immediate question isn’t whether D’Amaro can run parks—it’s whether he can steer the whole company while balancing large capital plans, content performance, and a rapidly evolving competitive landscape.
| Marker | What it means | Timing (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| CEO handoff date | D’Amaro assumes the top job | March 18, 2026 |
| Iger’s advisory runway | Board member and senior advisor through year-end | Through Dec. 31, 2026 |
| Stock snapshot | DIS around $104.45 in morning trade | 9:17 a.m., Feb. 3, 2026 |
| Recent pressure point | International tourism softness cited as a headwind | Late Jan.–early Feb. 2026 |
The challenges waiting in the post-Iger era
D’Amaro inherits a company in transition on multiple fronts. The near-term agenda includes maintaining profit momentum in experiences while addressing signs of softer international travel demand, sharpening the economics of streaming as competition remains intense, and navigating a labor calendar that could bring renewed negotiations across the entertainment industry.
There’s also the strategic question of how aggressively Disney should lean into new technology while protecting its intellectual property and creative standards. The board’s succession process was built to avoid another abrupt handover; the long overlap with Iger and the elevation of Walden appear designed to reduce execution risk, keep creative leadership stable, and reassure investors that the next chapter won’t be defined by internal churn.
Sources consulted: The Walt Disney Company; Reuters; Associated Press; Barron’s
