Written by Lincoln Cha
On February 3, 2026, The Walt Disney Company announced the end to its search for a replacement for
Bob Iger, the Chief Executive Officer (The Walt Disney Company, 2026). Josh D’Amaro will be taking
over for the seasoned executive, effective March 18, 2026. Iger, who previously tried to step down in
2020 after successfully leading the company for 15 years, will remain on the board and transition into a
Senior Advisor role until the end of the current year (The Walt Disney Company, 2020).
D’Amaro currently serves as Chairman of Disney Experiences, the segment that includes the company’s
cruise line, resorts, consumer products, and six international theme parks (The Walt Disney Company,
2025). As a testament to D’Amaro’s leadership abilities, the company reported Q1 revenue of a record
$10 billion for the Experiences segment on February 2nd, 2026, one day before the announced
succession (The Walt Disney Company, 2026).
The company concurrently announced that Dana Walden, the other reported front-runner for CEO and
current Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment (the segment that includes streaming, linear networks, and
theatrical releases), will become President and Chief Creative Officer, also effective March 18 of this year
(The Walt Disney Company, 2026). Walden will be the first Chief Creative Officer in the history of the
century-old entertainment giant.
Preceding D’Amaro’s coronation has been a six-year-long effort by Iger to retire, marred by a pandemic
that presented the entertainment industry with a disruption of unparalleled magnitude (The Walt Disney
Company, 2020). Awaiting D’Amaro is the task of leading the company as it follows through on several
cross-segmental plans, some of which are expected to have fans waiting throughout the decade until
they come to fruition (Swan, 2025).
Disney’s Past: Troublesome CEO Search and Enduring a Pandemic
Iger has ushered the company through major growth and acquisitions, some of which include Pixar
Animation Studios, Lucasfilm (well known for the Star Wars franchise), Marvel Studios, and 20th Century
Fox (Whitten, 2019). He additionally oversaw the opening of Shanghai Disneyland Park, now the highest
attended theme park in China (Themed Entertainment Association, 2024).
On February 25th, 2020, Disney announced an immediate transition of leadership from Iger to Bob
Chapek, who had been serving as the Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products (The Walt
Disney Company, 2020). What soon followed was a global pandemic that led to the longest closing of
Disney theme parks in company history (Pallota, 2020). Approximately 100,000 furloughs were reported
(Siemaszko, 2020), and layoffs reached 32,000 by the first half of fiscal year 2021 (Whitten, 2020). Much
like other entertainment venues, the company’s revenue regarding ticket sales and in-park purchases
was frozen. Although many businesses were forced to close down during the pandemic due to the need
to pay rent despite not bringing in revenue to finance it, Disney dealt with the financial distress by relying
on its growing streaming service and a few diversified business ventures, such as renting their vacant
resort rooms and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to host the National Basketball Association
(DuBois, 2020).
Although the pandemic certainly aided in increasing Disney+ subscribers, which countered the loss of
theatrical release revenue, the new business venture remained unprofitable for the company. This was
particularly apparent after a significant loss of $1.47 billion attributable to streaming in the fourth fiscal
quarter of 2022 (The Walt Disney Company, 2022). The loss reflected poorly on Chapek, who was
ousted three weeks later by the Board of Directors (The Walt Disney Company, 2022). Upon firing
Chapek, the board immediately rehired Iger, whose employment with the company had been severed a
year earlier.
Six years after initially stepping down, Iger is now overseeing the transition to a new successor. With no
pandemics currently disrupting the theme park business, the operating environment D’Amaro faces now
differs from the conditions dealt to Chapek. Yet the role carries heightened expectations, as Iger’s second
tenure included turning the company’s streaming service profitable and announcing several major growth
initiatives in store for the coming years (The Walt Disney Company, 2024).
Disney’s Future: Expansion into the Middle East
As Chairman of Disney Experiences, D’Amaro represented Disney in the negotiations that eventually led
to the May 2025 announcement of Disneyland Abu Dhabi, expected to open as early as 2030
(Chmielewski, 2025). With the company’s first theme park in the Middle East comes new challenges,
risks, and rewards, all factors that D’Amaro will certainly be taking into consideration as he navigates the
company through this groundbreaking expansion.
Notably, labor practices of large construction projects in the Middle East have historically come under
scrutiny: a recent example was the construction of stadiums for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which
triggered protests over safe working conditions (Zayadin, 2021). As a corporation known worldwide,
Disney could face reputational risk if allegations of labor violations occur. Although Disney engineers will
be designing the new park, the construction will mainly be handled by Miral, a company based in Abu
Dhabi and responsible for the development of theme parks already located in the city (Chmielewski,
2025).
Disney has employed several strategies to mitigate other risks and support the projected success of its
upcoming theme park. The park is planned for a prime tourism location in Abu Dhabi, which already
hosts theme parks owned by Warner Bros, SeaWorld, and others (Chmielewski, 2025). These
attractions, located on the man-made Yas Island, contributed to a recorded 34 million visits to Abu Dhabi
in 2023. While clustering could result in more direct competition, leading to possible pricing pressures, it
could also bring higher visibility, customer convenience, and a more secure entry into a new market for
Disney.
As an additional method to mitigate potential losses, Disney agreed to receive royalty-based revenues
from Miral once the new park opens, in exchange for the Abu Dhabi-based company’s financing of
construction (Chmielewski, 2025). With this business strategy, Disney will forgo a large portion of ticket
sale revenue once the park opens, but will avoid massive upfront capital expenditures.
A New Chapter
While some of Iger’s most notable executive actions focused on expansion within Disney’s Entertainment
segment, the appointment of D’Amaro in March positions him to oversee the completion of major
initiatives within the Experiences segment, an area of the company in which he has substantial expertise
(The Walt Disney Company, 2024). These projects include the expansion of current theme parks, the
addition of ships to the Disney Cruise Line, and the creation of Disneyland Abu Dhabi, a brand new
theme park in an untouched market for the company. Global markets continue to recover from the effects
of the pandemic, and D’Amaro will soon take the helm at a company with the potential to lead the
entertainment industry toward economic growth in the coming years.
References
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