The race to succeed Bob Iger as Disney CEO just got more focused—and more complicated. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro is now in “pole position” to take over the company’s top job, vaulting ahead of a crowded internal field of Disney CEO candidates that includes Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, and Jimmy Pitaro.
D’Amaro’s rise shouldn’t come as a surprise. He’s the public face of a $60 billion theme park expansion that now includes a new resort in Abu Dhabi—the first new Disney park since 2016. The Parks and Experiences division of Disney is by far its most profitable, with TV and film divisions stumbling despite a few box office successes. Most notably, just this week Disney issued a mass layoff across its TV, FIlm, and Finance divisions, in which hundreds of employees lost their jobs.
Bob Iger via CNBC Television YouTube
D’Amaro is also overseeing Disney’s entry into big-budget gaming through a $1.5 billion deal with Epic Games, a move Iger reportedly sees as a legacy-defining project. And in recent weeks, he’s stepped into several of Iger’s traditional roles, including representing the company at the MoffettNathanson investor conference.
But while D’Amaro checks plenty of boxes operationally, there’s a familiar concern emerging from inside the industry.
Can the theme park guy win over Hollywood?
That question echoes the same perception that doomed Bob Chapek (in the official story anyway…).
Bob Iger | 2019 Disney Legends Awards Ceremony | D23 EXPO 2019. Photo Credit: nagi usano from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
As THR notes, Chapek also came from the Parks division and struggled to communicate with top talent, studio heads, and power players in the entertainment capital. Of course, there were other factors leading to Chapek’s removal. He took the reigns as lockdowns were issued all over the world and was reportedly pressured into taking a stand against the Florida state government’s Parental Rights in Education bill which led to the state dissolving Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement district in Florida.
And, of course, there have always been rumors that Iger was working behind the scenes to undermine Chapek and usurp the Mouse House throne.
Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro via Disney Parks YouTube
D’Amaro, though seemingly more media-savvy and personable, still carries that same institutional baggage of being a “theme parks guy” trying to rub elbows with the Hollywood elite as Disney CEO.
“This is the problem at Disney,” said Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. “How can you expect someone from theme parks to understand the process of making television and film? And how can you expect someone from television and film to understand how to work with the Chinese government? “What’s the old saying — nobody knows anything? In this case, it’s nobody knows everything.”
A Strategic Appearance at Netflix
That tension might help explain D’Amaro’s surprise appearance at Netflix’s upfront last month.
Wednesday Adams played by Jenna Ortega in the trailer for Wednesday Season 2 – YouTube, Netflix
As previously reported by Bloomberg, D’Amaro showed up unannounced at the event, mingling with rival executives and Hollywood insiders. It was a strange move for someone who doesn’t oversee content or ad sales—but it could have been a deliberate effort to shake off the “park guy” label and begin ingratiating him with the entertainment community.
If that’s the case, it suggests that D’Amaro is aware of his one major vulnerability and is already working to address it.
The Walden Wild Card
Then there’s Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment and a long-assumed frontrunner.
Walden brings deep experience in television and strong relationships with Hollywood creatives. Her appointment would also be historic, making her Disney’s first female CEO.
Dana Walden via Variety YouTube
But THR confirms what industry observers have speculated for months. Her decades-long friendship with former Vice President Kamala Harris has become a political liability in in the Trump 2.0 era. What once looked like a powerful connection now raises concerns about retaliation from a White House that already seems to consider Disney an enemy.
Bergman and Pitaro: Still in the Picture…Kinda
Alan Bergman and Jimmy Pitaro round out the shortlist.
HULU ON DISNEY+ CELEBRATION – Some of the biggest stars across The Walt Disney Company celebrate the official launch of Hulu on Disney+ at an exclusive cocktail reception hosted by Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, along with special guest Bob Iger, on Friday evening in Los Angeles. (Disney/Greg Williams)
DANA WALDEN (CO-CHAIRMAN, DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY), ROBERT A. IGER (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY), ALAN BERGMAN (CO-CHAIRMAN, DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY)
Bergman, though respected, reportedly lacks the charismatic presence Disney may want in a post-Iger era. Pitaro, who leads ESPN, has the advantage of steering a fairly consistent asset—but lacks the high-profile visibility of D’Amaro and Walden.
What Comes Next?
If D’Amaro’s appearance at Netflix was the opening move in a broader campaign to be seen as more than a Parks executive, it seems to be working. He’s now the name most frequently floated by insiders, including trade publications like THR. Every public appearance, every deal, and every handshake is being scrutinized through the lens of succession.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 11: (L-R) Ken Potrock, Asad Ayaz, Ariana DeBose and Josh D’Amaro at Disneyland with a performance from Wish at Disneyland on November 11, 2023 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney)
Still, questions remain. Can Josh D’Amaro win over the same creative class that rejected Chapek as Disney CEO? Can he convince investors and Hollywood alike that he understands both cruise ships and film slates? Will Bob Iger step aside and let him actually run the company? And can Disney afford to take another chance on a parks boss after its last experiment ended in public implosion?
In Galloway’s words: “Nobody knows everything.” But Disney’s board will soon need to decide who knows enough.
Do you think Josh D’Amaro will be the next CEO of Disney? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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