Could Disney Poach EA’s CEO
The Walt Disney Company has started its succession battle in earnest.
Disney recently named James Gorman as the Chairman of the Board, a role he’ll begin in January 2025.
(Photo by Hou Yu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
By taking this step, Disney gave Gorman more power than CEO Bob Iger.
At the time, Disney also reinforced that Gorman, not Iger, would choose the next CEO.
Photo: Disney
While I’m confident that Iger’s opinion carries plenty of weight with Gorman, the reality is that succession is no longer up to Iger.
Now, Gorman is spending the next 15 months vetting all the candidates for the next head of Disney.
Photo: Playbuzz.com
Now, a rumor from the end of 2023 has resurfaced, and it brings a lot of intrigue.
Could Disney poach the CEO of Electronic Arts? And what would that mean for the two companies?
Meet Andrew Wilson
electronic Arts
Executive Andrew Wilson is no stranger to the spotlight, having led Electronic Arts (EA) since 2013.
During Wilson’s tenure, EA has experienced dramatic growth as demonstrated by its market cap.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
At the end of 2013, Wilson’s first year with the company, EA was worth $7.08 billion.
On November 12th, 2024, EA’s stock achieved a record high in excess of $160, and the company’s market cap had soared to $42.6 billion.
In other words, in a matter of 11 years, EA’s value has increased by a factor of six.
Under Wilson’s leadership, EA has effectively expanded by more than 50 percent per year, a dizzying feat.
Photographer: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg via Getty Images
When a company achieves that level of success others notice, which is why Wilson is such a hot name in corporate America.
As a measure to keep Wilson happy, EA promoted him to Chairman of the Board in 2021.
Photographer: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg via Getty Images
So, at this moment, Wilson calls all the shots at EA, and he looks like a genius, given the company’s jaw-dropping success.
The Disney Rumor
Now, the Wall Street Journal has posted an article suggesting that Wilson is a candidate to become Disney’s next CEO.
As usual, this assertion comes with many asterisks, starting with the fact that Wilson already has a job.
Photo: Disney
Even if Disney wants him, EA could keep Wilson simply by offering him a better compensation package.
With any job, the best way to get a raise is to have an offer from a competitor.
Photo: Pexel.com
So, when a story like this leaks, the first question you should ask is, “Who benefits?”
The answer here is clearly Wilson, whose reputation gains a boost since a company as powerful as Disney is at least somewhat interested.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Gorman achieves his goal of getting the word out on the street that Disney isn’t locked into its internal candidates.
Thus, this sort of report is win/win for Wilson and Gorman. But there may be more to it than that.
Photo:Morgan Stanley
Each year, various business sites post outlandish predictions about potential headline-making deals in the coming year.
In December 2023, I mentioned one with a Disney focus. And the unnamed person making the prediction has quite the track record.
Photo: Getty
As I noted at the time, “This individual correctly predicted that Iger would return to Disney in 2022, that Chris Licht would flame out at CNN, and that Christine McCarthy would exit Disney.”
So, they were three for three on their most recent predictions in a game where 30 percent is a VERY good hit ratio.
The Walt Disney Company
Thus, when this individual makes predictions, I pay attention, and theirs for Disney in 2024 matters now more than ever.
The prognosticator suggested that Wilson would replace Iger as CEO.
The person made this claim 11 months ago, indicating that there’s been smoke to this fire for a while now.
Why Gorman May Prefer Wilson
Holywood Reporter PHOTOGRAPHED BY DIANA KING
Then again, as exhaustively discussed, Disney has four worthy internal candidates for the role of CEO.
The Wall Street Journal article notes that Gorman has expanded the search in case he isn’t satisfied with the Disney options.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
No, that doesn’t mean that Dana Walden and Josh D’Amaro are out of the running.
In fact, the article pointedly states that Iger has contacted Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos to discuss that company’s unique setup.
(Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images for BFI)
Netflix has utilized Co-CEOs since 2020, even as the company has experienced shocking growth.
Obviously, for a system like that to work, the executives must be relatively ego-less and transparent by nature.
Photo: JIM CARCHIDI
As the story notes, plenty of people involved with the process view D’Amaro and Walden as a potential dynamic duo.
“Some company observers have pointed out that Walden and D’Amaro have complementary skill sets—she as a TV executive who works closely with studio talent and he as an operational expert with finance chops—and might work well as co-CEOs.”
Photo: Disney
Still, neither of them has led a full company, a job assignment that comes with unique challenges.
I’ve previously mentioned that each of Disney’s core businesses is large enough to count as a Fortune 500 company on its own.
Photo: Deadline
Still, operating all of them requires even more skill since you’re in charge of the empire.
Iger proved a master at this assignment, while Bob Chapek proved wholly inept.
(Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
For this reason, Gorman may prefer a candidate like Wilson, someone who has already proven they can run the whole show.
Then, we have another connection between the two men. They’re both Australians who left their home countries to succeed in America.
(Photo by Phil Faraone/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
The connective tissue of their roots give them some unity, as does each individual’s experience in running an entire company.
The Other Possibility
The fact that this rumor has strengthened recently opens the door for another possibility.
Folks, Disney and EA may be in communication about a potential mergers and acquisitions deal.
Photo: Electronic Arts
I don’t want to get too far ahead here with speculation based on other speculation, but the deal makes sense.
MickeyBlog has discussed on numerous occasions how lucrative its videogame licenses are, with EA as a primary partner.
Photo: Disney, Epic Games
Earlier in 2024, Disney made a deal with Epic Games for a Fortnite-adjacent Disney videogame universe.
Iger and his team clearly want to make a renewed commitment toward gaming, one of the most lucrative ways to license Disney content.
Photo: Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm
So, some sort of merger with or purchase of EA would achieve that goal. And it would likely work this way.
Wilson would come onboard as the CEO of Disney, which now controls EA.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
I’m not ready to say that this scenario is likely to happen, but if Wilson becomes a viable candidate for Disney CEO, the move makes sense.
Therefore, you should pay attention to this new wrinkle in the Disney succession race.
Walt Disney Company
If Gorman chooses an outside candidate, that person likely opens a new business opportunity for Disney.
Wilson definitely checks that box as the successful leader of EA.
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