Why Josh D’Amaro Is the Right Choice
After more than three years of speculation, The Walt Disney Company finally made a call.
As expected, Josh D’Amaro will succeed Bob Iger as the CEO of Disney.
Photo: Disney
Here’s why Josh D’Amaro is the right choice to lead Disney.
Who Is Josh D’Amaro?
In 1998, Disney hired an executive from The Gillette Company, where he’d worked in finance.
At the time, nobody could have imagined the profound impact of this decision.
Photo: Disney
Josh D’Amaro joined Disney and quickly rose through the ranks.
His financial aplomb and unmatched charisma elevated him above his peers.
Photo: @abigail_the_fun_princess on Instagram
That’s the thing about D’Amaro, though. Even though he possesses star power, he never makes anyone else feel like less.
Somehow, D’Amaro could win friends in the competing realms of finance and creatives alike.
Photo: Disney
The executive quickly found himself as Vice President of Sales and Travel Trade Marketing at Disney.
Then, he methodically worked his way up through every level of the company’s corporate hierarchy.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company-
Josh D’Amaro (Chairman; Disney Parks, Experiences and Products)
At various points, D’Amaro has held titles such as Chief Financial Officer at Disney Consumer Products Licensing.
So, you may think he’s a boring numbers guy and not a people person, the criticism that sank Bob Chapek.
Photo: Disney
The opposite is true, as demonstrated by the fact that it was Chapek who gave D’Amaro his big breaks.
Then, when Disney fired Chapek, his enemy, Bob Iger, returned to the company.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
At that point, most D’Amaro underlings were sunk…but not D’Amaro. No, Iger leaned on him heavily.
Both of Disney’s most recent CEOs found value in D’Amaro’s fascinating skill set.
Photo: @joshdamaro
At various points, D’Amaro has led Adventures by Disney, Disneyland Resort, and Walt Disney World Resort.
So, we’re talking about someone with a complete understanding of the Disney Experiences division.
Image: Disney
To a larger point, has worked in other roles in the company as well, so he’s not just a one-trick pony.
D’Amaro has also overseen Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Consumer Products.
The Future-Proof Candidate
More recently, Disney’s next CEO has pushed the company into new ventures.
D’Amaro is the reason why Disney currently has deals with OpenAI and Epic Games.
Disney
This is one of the ways that D’Amaro differentiated himself from other candidates.
While everyone else focused on perfecting their own purviews, D’Amaro branched out.
As a Disney employee for half his life, he cares about the company in a profound way.
So, D’Amaro pressed his boss, Bob Iger, to consider new avenues for growth.
Specifically, Disney’s next CEO persuaded Iger to engage with Epic Games.
Iger famously doesn’t know much about video games, which is a problem for Disney.
Photo: Disney, Epic Games
When the person at the top of the food chain doesn’t care much about a $184 billion industry, the company loses money.
In 2014, Disney closed its Interactive division, getting out of video games at exactly the wrong time.
Photo: EPIC Games
Since Iger didn’t care about this business, Disney missed the early 2020s money train.
Simultaneously, Disney has failed to appeal to Gen Z males, a diehard gaming group.
Photo: EPIC Games
According to recent statistics, 73.8 percent of Gen Z play video games, but Iger did nothing about it.
D’Amaro pushed Iger to reconsider, which is how Disney’s Epic Games/Fortnite deal came to be.
Photo: Epic Games
Since then, the agreement has paid quick dividends, with Disney characters and Fortnite a dream pairing.
Disney’s Next Generation
Emboldened by the success of this collaboration, D’Amaro pushed Iger on another front.
Recognizing that he may soon lead Disney, D’Amaro identified a weakness.
Disney lacks a stance on AI, which is a problem in a world where copyright infringement is rampant.
So, D’Amaro again pushed his boss to choose sides in the AI Wars, and it made a huge difference.
Photo: Disney
Even now, Iger sounds befuddled by how AI will help Disney, but he’s leaving next month anyway.
The next CEO is the one who must deal with AI, which Iger will largely sidestep in his tenure.
ABC
Recognizing this fact, D’Amaro convinced Iger to get ahead of the curve on this one.
AI is the ultimate example of, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” with Disney suffering the most.
AI image and video generation apps were shamelessly ripping off Disney characters.
To Iger, these were just comments people made in business meetings, not a problem he’d face.
Photo: Disney
Meanwhile, Disney’s next CEO will deal with AI and copyright concerns for their entire tenure.
D’Amaro identified the imperative of taking a stance on AI and then making a deal.
Photo: Disney
Thus, the person who is ostensibly the theme parks guy pushed for a major tech initiative.
This wasn’t part of D’Amaro’s job description at all, but again, he cares so much about Disney.
Photo: Open AI
D’Amaro managed to build a bridge with OpenAI, one that will make his next job much easier.
This collaboration proved another feather in his cap.
Follow the Money
Still, we should be honest: there’s one main reason Josh D’Amaro will become Disney’s CEO.
Disney unofficially began a bake-off with the four Chairmen of its three core divisions.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
Alan Bergman, Jimmy Pitaro, Dana Walden, and D’Amaro have known this since November 2022.
Since Bob Iger had previously retired once, he wasn’t going to stay at the job forever.
Photo: Disney
Someone else would need to step up, and so the race was on to win the Disney crown.
Ultimately, corporate succession isn’t about who is the most charismatic or loves the company the most.
Photo: Disney
Disney is a publicly traded stock, which means that investors often determine outcomes.
In fiscal 2025, The Walt Disney Company reported operating income of $17.55 billion.
Photo: Disney
Bergman, Pitaro, and Walden’s divisions earned $7.6 billion of that revenue.
The rest of it came from Disney Experiences, Josh D’Amaro’s division. He’s the breadwinner.
The Walt Disney Company
When an executive’s division earns more than half of a company’s operating income, people notice.
While Dana Walden had once seemed like the favorite to become Disney CEO, timing is everything.
Photo: Disney
Since Iger’s return, D’Amaro’s division has anchored Disney’s financials while Disney Entertainment has struggled.
During the most recent fiscal quarter, only D’Amaro’s division experienced operating income growth.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
Even as other Disney segments witnessed financial upheaval, Disney Experiences grew.
That demonstration of financial strength weighed heavily in determining this outcome.
The Walt Disney Company
When Disney’s Board of Directors followed the money, the choice was clear.
Josh D’Amaro, the Disney diehard, will head the company as of March 18th.
This isn’t just the best choice for Disney but also for its fans, as Josh D’Amaro is one of us.
Today is a good day for Disney, with Josh D’Amaro clearly the best choice to lead.
