Disney’s Next-Next CEO Earns a Promotion
The Walt Disney Company hasn’t announced who will succeed Bob Iger as CEO yet.
While Hollywood and Wall Street nervously await that announcement, Disney did something else.
Walt Disney Company
The company just promoted someone with a fascinating internal nickname.
Co-workers cheekily refer to Asad Ayaz as the “next-next CEO,” hinting at his perceived career trajectory.
Yahoo news
Now, Disney’s next-next CEO has earned yet another promotion.
So, just who is this person, and why are Disney’s leaders so enamored of him?
The Generational Talents
At some point, the term “generational talent” entered the zeitgeist.
People use it to refer to any number of athletes, ignoring that, by definition, it should apply only to a small handful.
Photo: TheWrap.com
At Disney, we’ve witnessed a few executives who came across as generational talents.
Kevin Mayer definitely held that reputation, as did Thomas O. Staggs before him.
(Photo by Beck Starr/WireImage)
Coincidentally or not, the former hotshot executives at Disney now work somewhere else.
On the bright side, they are the Co-CEOs of Candle Media, a multi-billion-dollar company.
Photo: Variety
For this reason, I’d argue that the hype about each individual was justified. They just didn’t become Disney’s CEO.
In other instances, executives try to correct some hype about themselves to elevate their position.
Photo: Getty
Former CFO Christine McCarthy did this, once attempting to position herself as Disney’s next CEO.
That move proved counterproductive in the end as Bob Iger kindly invited McCarthy to retire.
Photo: Getty
Note that she was younger than Iger when this happened, and he’s worked a couple of years after that.
So, her retirement wasn’t about her age as much as her career ambitions running into a brick wall.
Source: Disney
Nobody referred to her as a generational talent, but she tried to give herself a nickname anyway.
What’s the rule, folks? YOU CAN’T GIVE YOURSELF A NICKNAME!!!
(Photo by Adam Kissick/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
Then, we have the odd case of Josh D’Amaro, who falls into a more nebulous category.
Unlike McCarthy, the Chairman of Disney Experiences is by no means a shameless self-promoter.
Despite this fact, his career keeps pointing upward, and he may yet become Disney CEO.
I don’t know whether anyone ever considered him a potential candidate before 2022. As late as 2024, I felt like I was out on a limb by saying he was my preferred Disney successor.
Enter Asad Ayaz
Photo: @abigail_the_fun_princess on Instagram
D’Amaro seemingly became famous due to the fact that his co-workers raved about him.
I wouldn’t say that he was ever described as a generational talent, at least not by those beyond the parks.
Image Credit: D23
However, a different Disney candidate definitely claims that sort of prestige.
As MickeyBlog’s Justin Hermes recently joked, Asad Ayaz seems to get an updated title each year.
Photo: Disney
Most recently, Disney “announced the creation of a new enterprise marketing and brand organization.”
The stated goal of this entity is to “align the company’s industry-leading marketing teams more closely across its businesses.”
EXECUTIVE PORTRAIT – Robert Langer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Disney|ABC Television Group. (Disney|ABC)
Disney just siloed all its marketing under one individual: Asad Ayaz. He even gets a fancy new title.
Ayaz will lead this new organization as the Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of The Walt Disney Company.
Deadline
As far as job titles go, that’s…a pretty good one. I mean, Asad Ayaz is now in charge of Mickey Mouse.
In 2025, Disney consolidated all its marketing, with Ayaz running the whole shebang.
(Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media)
This announcement indicates that Disney has formalized the details, with all marketing running through Ayaz’s desk.
As proof, Disney’s new Chief Brand Officer reports directly to Bob Iger.
Photo: Getty
Presumably, once Disney names Iger’s successor, Ayaz will do the same with them.
But this assignment includes a greater call of duty at Disney. Ayaz is in charge of making things right.
Fans have spent the entirety of the 2020s complaining about the state of Star Wars and Marvel.
Lately, some whispers have even crept in about Pixar and Disney animated films.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
In performing this reorganization, Disney makes Ayaz both the tip of the spear and the first line of defense.
Every Disney trailer you watch from now on will go through his office, as will all Disney commercials.
Why You Should Be Happy About Asad Ayaz
The Walt Disney Company
You may be wondering who this person is, a perfectly fair question.
For perspective, MickeyBlog is in its ninth year, and we’ve only directly mentioned him 43 times.
Photo: Also Disney+
The first one was from a pandemic tweet he made about Saving Mr. Banks.
Several of our other earliest references to him involved his social media accounts, where he proudly displays Disney content.
I mention this because it’s Ayaz’s calling card at Disney: he really loves this company.
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story about Ayaz, which emphasizes the point.
variety
The executive’s “office is decorated with more than 150 Funko figurines of Disney characters, and he wears Marvel T-shirts at the gym.”
This person is just like you or me, only he’s now fully responsible for rebuilding fans’ trust in various Disney brands.
Disney
If this behavior sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve previously tracked the same archetype.
What differentiates Josh D’Amaro at Disney is that he genuinely loves the theme parks.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
His passion for all things Disney shines through, especially when he’s interacting with Imagineers.
Ayaz demonstrates that same tendency, as MickeyBlog was quoting him before we really knew who he was.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
This was the person who was first in line to say, “Look how cool this poster is!”
That’s the executive we desperately want and need in charge of Disney.
Photo: Disney
The person marketing all of Disney’s stuff and protecting its brands should be someone who loves it.
Bob Chapek most assuredly wasn’t that, and it’s partially why he failed. Disney was just a widget to him.
Image: The Healthy Mouse
Ayaz’s office speaks to the fact that he embraces Disney culture, which makes him the ideal choice here.
Is he the next-next CEO? Well, we’ll just have to wait a decade or two to see…
Photo: MickeyBlog
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Feature Photo: Deadline
