The next two years will be a time for political debate as politicians vie to either become or remain President of the United States in 2024. But inside The Walt Disney Company, something similar is happening over the next CEO position.
Something caught my eye this morning as I was reading through the Recommended Articles on That Park Place. I came across a story by Blog Mickey that might seem innocuous at first but gave me pause. Titled “Josh D’Amaro Says Popular Disney Parks Changes “Not Necessarily” Thanks to Return of Bob Iger,” the report gave me my first insight into just how much Mr. D’Amaro, head of Disney’s Parks and Experiences division, may be vying for the top job at the House of Mouse.
For context, when former CEO Bob Chapek was ousted by Christine McCarthy, Robert Iger and (allegedly) powerful players within the institutional investor community, Iger returned as CEO with only a two-year plan in place. After that, supposedly he’ll be back into retirement. Maybe this time it will last more than ten months.
So there are already plenty of prognostications about who might succeed in taking on the position once Iger relinquishes it once more. Some believe that CFO Christine McCarthy, after her ballsy takedown of Bob Chapek, might be owed the position as recompense the huge risk she took on behalf of the biggest investing firms. She’s a no-nonsense, cutthroat executive in the eyes of most at this point. She’s also hard to see as a family-friendly, warm leader that seems to be necessary for running The Walt Disney Company. Dana Walden, likewise is viewed as a major contender. She leads up much of the content at the company and she was recently selected to go to a white tie White House gala. That’s a big tip of the hat usually.
Of course there are other candidates who might get the big seat in two years. But largely, McCarthy and Walden could currently be considered the frontrunners. But someone must not be telling Josh D’Amaro. He seems to have other plans.
In reference to changes for Walt Disney World Resort yesterday, most of which seem to be significantly more consumer-friendly, D’Amaro had the following to say:
This is not necessarily about a change in leadership. I have a lot of face-to-face conversations with guests when I’m walking the parks, and I read a lot of their comments online. If you move a tree, if you change a procedure, if you start asking for reservations — that’s a big deal to our guests. They care. They really, really care. And if people care that much, then I have an obligation to listen and, when appropriate, to make some changes and modifications.
Note that D’Amaro could have praised Iger. He didn’t. Note he could have confirmed that a change in leadership opened the doors for him and made such actions more possible. He didn’t. Instead, he dismissed the change in leadership altogether. Instead, he first placed the onus on guest feedback (which has been strongly in this direction for years with no response), then set the stage by saying that he listens… that he makes changes.
Am I reading too much into this? Maybe. But I don’t think so. D’Amaro hasn’t had a terribly successful run as the head of Disney Parks in terms of guest deliverables. That is, up until now — and there is still far to go for a return to the value Disney Parks once offered. D’Amaro has performed well as a spokesperson and likeable face of the parks. He’s likewise benefited from McCarthy’s take-no-prisoners approach to shaking down all the money she can from guests. She or Bob Chapek tended to take all the negative optics from that while McCarthy skated under the ire of Disney Parks fans. Now, it seems he’s trying to position himself as both the beneficiary of those fiscally aggressive policies AND giving customers what they’ve been yelling about for years. And he’s doing it all while cutting Iger out of his statements affirming what’s happening.
It all seems to point to Josh D’Amaro aiming for the biggest role at Disney in the future. It also points to a change of perceptions in the Disney C-Suite. Perhaps some see Iger as a lame duck transitional figure, rather than the savior the press originally wanted to portray.
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let me know your thoughts.
Would love to hear more about the Iger / Tom Staggs clash.
We’ll get into that in the future. Still amazing that someone can literally prevent you from dying, and then you turn around and do them dirty.
You’re definitely not reading too much into this and your skepticism of D’Amaro is also well placed. I do believe he isn’t lying when he says he has autonomy over some decisions as things like removing the 50th nighttime shows were announced back at D23 when Chapek was still CEO. However, that autonomy also raises questions regarding his complicity in other decisions that have been less consumer friendly as you suggested. Unfortunately, I don’t think anything short of an Elon Musk style takeover of Disney will course correct it’s overall trajectory regardless of whether or not D’Amaro is right for the job or not.
Makes him sound more like a snake and opportunist. If he cares so much about the guest experience, he allowed it to deteriorate so badly. Nonetheless, a CEO needs to understand PR just as much as economics. Then follow through instead of merely pretending to listen. D’Amato is rotten tomatoes.
If he’s a possible candidate of the next CEO of Disney, then I hope he’s better than Bob Chapek.