D’Amaro named next CEO

[GAN]

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/josh-damaro-disney-ceo-bob-iger-1236650641/

 

[reddog21]

Lets' see if this goes as smoothly as the last attempt.

 

[Moonspinner]

Nightmare. He’s run the parks into the ground.

 

[15isto2]

He seems a nice chap and he's been in the company for along time. Pete used to speak highly of him on the podcast.

 

[Moonspinner]

He seems a nice chap and he's been in the company for along time. Pete used to speak highly of him on the podcast.

I’m not sure I’d go with Pete’s opinion on anything.

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss

 

[BrianL]

I think Josh will probably be fine - more of the same, but I am not sure about Dana as "Chief Creative Officer" - I mean, is she really a creative? That's the kind of title that goes to a person who they want to be in charge, but maybe doesn't have the business background - like Dave Filoni at Lucasfilm or Jennifer Lee at WDAS. It's nothing against Dana, but she seems to be more on the business side. I know that in Hollywood that line can get a little blurred, but CCO just seems a little off for her.

I do hope Josh does a great job. I know last time they promoted the Parks head things didn't exactly go too well. D'Amaro is at least more affable and seems well-liked. I don't expect him to usher in a new era or anything, but hopefully he lets his people work the way Iger generallyd. If he does, then the real question will be who succeeds D'Amaro at the Parks division?

 

[GAN]

I think Josh will probably be fine - more of the same, but I am not sure about Dana as "Chief Creative Officer" - I mean, is she really a creative? That's the kind of title that goes to a person who they want to be in charge, but maybe doesn't have the business background - like Dave Filoni at Lucasfilm or Jennifer Lee at WDAS. It's nothing against Dana, but she seems to be more on the business side. I know that in Hollywood that line can get a little blurred, but CCO just seems a little off for her.

I do hope Josh does a great job. I know last time they promoted the Parks head things didn't exactly go too well. D'Amaro is at least more affable and seems well-liked. I don't expect him to usher in a new era or anything, but hopefully he lets his people work the way Iger generallyd. If he does, then the real question will be who succeeds D'Amaro at the Parks division?

She may end up leaving -wouldn’t be a shocker. By all accounts, Josh is a wonderful guy, experienced in Parks, and an obvious fan favorite -but the job is so much more than parks at this point. I hope he grows into the job -we’ll see how the market reacts to it today

 

[Smugpugmug]

While I am extremely happy to see Iger go (when people cheered his return, I thought that was very cringe), this isn't any better.

 

[GAN]

While I am extremely happy to see Iger go (when people cheered his return, I thought that was very cringe), this isn't any better.

We could only dream that D’Amaro will become as good a CEO! I never got the Iger hate -he’s a guy who literally worked his way to the top and handled obstacles better than most.

 

[Smugpugmug]

We could only dream that D’Amaro will become as good a CEO! I never got the Iger hate -he’s a guy who literally worked his way to the top and handled obstacles better than most.

Honestly Iger doesn't get enough hate but that's a discussion for another time.

 

[BrianL]

We could only dream that D’Amaro will become as good a CEO! I never got the Iger hate -he’s a guy who literally worked his way to the top and handled obstacles better than most.

Yeah, I mean, Iger was a really good CEO, and much better than Chapek, though I will also say that his second tenure was not so impressive and it seemed like he may have been phoning it in aside from tidying up a few messes. I do think it's time for new blood regardless.

 

[GAN]

Yeah, I mena, Iger was a really good CEO, and much better than Chapek, though I will also say that his second tenure was not so impressive and it seemed like he may have been phoning it in aside from tidying up a few messes. I do think it's time for new blood regardless.

Agreed. It seemed like he was just keeping the ship afloat until the successor was named.

 

[HopperFan]

I think Josh will probably be fine - more of the same, but I am not sure about Dana as "Chief Creative Officer" - I mean, is she really a creative? That's the kind of title that goes to a person who they want to be in charge, but maybe doesn't have the business background - like Dave Filoni at Lucasfilm or Jennifer Lee at WDAS. It's nothing against Dana, but she seems to be more on the business side. I know that in Hollywood that line can get a little blurred, but CCO just seems a little off for her.

Happy with Josh, keep the ship steady moving forward. He has the appreciation for all parts of the creative business and stays among those working on the ground. I think the parks have blossomed and returned to some thing (like back to good merchandise) under him. Lots of projects got green lit under him.

Not happy about Dana. I don't think it is a good fit, and I hope she checks that box and moves on before too messy. Creativity is vital to the business. Chapek showed you can destroy that pretty fast when you don't have it.

I do hope Josh does a great job. I know last time they promoted the Parks head things didn't exactly go too well. D'Amaro is at least more affable and seems well-liked. I don't expect him to usher in a new era or anything, but hopefully he lets his people work the way Iger generallyd. If he does, then the real question will be who succeeds D'Amaro at the Parks division?

Last time they promoted a parks head - he was very bad at his job as parks head - should never had been promoted. He was a distribution, mass production (I associate him with Walmart) guy. He sucked the creative out of so much. The Board is fully responsible for that blunder.

Josh has been shadowing Iger for years. He's always been "in the room" with Igor has mentoring him. I think he was ALWAYS the next CEO but they put other names in the pot to make it look good.

 

[BrianL]

Happy with Josh, keep the ship steady moving forward. He has the appreciation for all parts of the creative business and stays among those working on the ground. I think the parks have blossomed and returned to some thing (like back to good merchandise) under him. Lots of projects got green lit under him.

Not happy about Dana. I don't think it is a good fit, and I hope she checks that box and moves on before too messy. Creativity is vital to the business. Chapek showed you can destroy that pretty fast when you don't have it.


Last time they promoted a parks head - he was very bad at his job as parks head - should never had been promoted. He was a distribution, mass production (I associate him with Walmart) guy. He sucked the creative out of so much. The Board is fully responsible for that blunder.

Josh has been shadowing Iger for years. He's always been "in the room" with Igor has mentoring him. I think he was ALWAYS the next CEO but they put other names in the pot to make it look good.

Yeah, I mean, Dana is a business person - she's never directed a film. Has she even produced one? I just don't think Chief Creative Officer is the role for her. Is she going to question the true creatives - Pete Doctor, Jennifer Lee? I mean, it's fine if she just lets them work, but I don't know. I feel like a different role for her would have been better. Heck, she'd probably be better as CEO with Josh more in the creative end, but I am not sure she's earned that over Josh at this point. The title just feels forced.

 

[Moonspinner]

Honestly Iger doesn't get enough hate but that's a discussion for another time.

In addition to all the awful decisions he’s made, he’s destroyed the stock price.

 

[HopperFan]

Yeah, I mean, Dana is a business person - she's never directed a film. Has she even produced one? I just don't think Chief Creative Officer is the role for her. Is she going to question the true creatives - Pete Doctor, Jennifer Lee? I mean, it's fine if she just lets them work, but I don't know. I feel like a different role for her would have been better. Heck, she'd probably be better as CEO with Josh more in the creative end, but I am not sure she's earned that over Josh at this point. The title just feels forced.

Agree. She's done damage at the level she is at, not sure I would have even touched her for a promotion at this point. How do you have a non-creative person in this role. Put her in the number cruncher room. Concerned that this is a token promotion.

 

[Moonspinner]

Yeah, I mean, Dana is a business person - she's never directed a film. Has she even produced one? I just don't think Chief Creative Officer is the role for her. Is she going to question the true creatives - Pete Doctor, Jennifer Lee? I mean, it's fine if she just lets them work, but I don't know. I feel like a different role for her would have been better. Heck, she'd probably be better as CEO with Josh more in the creative end, but I am not sure she's earned that over Josh at this point. The title just feels forced.

I agree it was a concession job because rumor was she was up for CEO. I think they also wanted a female at the top or close to it. I don’t have a handle on her. She just seems unimpressive generally, but at least she doesn’t do all the self-promotion that D’Amaro does. I can’t stand seeing him on my tv at Disney resorts. That’s taking self-promotion to a new level. “New” corporate America seems to think you don’t have to have any experience to be an executive. Unfortunately, Iger didn’t let anyone with ability survive at the company. He only promoted the B team because he wanted to be able to make the case to the board that he had to stay on.

 

[GAN]

In addition to all the awful decisions he’s made, he’s destroyed the stock price.

I’m not sure where you get your information. Iger took over and the stock was @ $25, he’s leaving @ $100 -and that includes the huge drop under Chapek(covid) from almost $200 to $85. If that’s destroying stock price, give me another 20-years like that again!

 

[Chuck96]

D'Amaro, like Iger, is very effective at controlling his image. That's why he is the choice. I continue to believe that Chapek's term as CEO was essentially as an intentional fall guy - they put him in charge, let him make a bunch of unpopular (but profitable) business decisions, then gave him his golden parachute. Did they roll those decisions back? Nope.

While I love the Parks, you can't make a coherent argument that things have been getting better. Like many other services and products in the world, prices are going up and quality is trending down. Pay more & get less is the modern way for corporations to make money, and it's sad to see Disney find themselves there as well.

I have no opinion of D'Amaro one way or the other, really. As said above, meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Unless they start properly staffing the parks and maintenance teams (but that would eat into profits), I'm going to be grumpy.