Disney Names Its Theme Parks Chief as Bob Iger’s Successor

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Hey, this is Jessica Mendoza, host of The Journal Podcast, our show about money, business, and power. If you're looking for more deeply reported stories like we share every day, consider becoming a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com/thejournal, all lowercase, to subscribe now.

Alex Ossola (0:23)

Disney names its head of theme parks and cruise ships as the new successor to CEO Bob Iger.

Ben Fritz (0:28)

They've tried to set Josh D'Amaro up for success. He's going to officially take over from Bob Iger in March and Iger will remain on the board until December, at which point he's supposed to be completely gone.

Alex Ossola (0:38)

Plus, Walmart hits a $1 trillion market cap while software stocks sell off. And the House votes to end the government shutdown. But for negotiations over immigration enforcement, it's just the start. It's Tuesday, February 3rd. I'm Alex Ossola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Disney has named Josh D'Amaro as its new CEO, putting the man who has been in charge of its theme parks and cruise ships atop America's best known entertainment brand. I'm joined now by WSJ Entertainment reporter Ben Fritz. Ben, D'Amaro has worked at Disney for 28 years. He spent most of that time working on theme parks. How does that prepare him for the CEO role?

Ben Fritz (1:26)

Well, theme parks have become Disney's most important business. They now, together with Consumer Products, which Josh D'Amaro also oversees, account for the majority of Disney's profits, which is a big change. It used to be television. So, he now knows very well the most important business for Disney. Obviously, D'Amaro has less experience in the entertainment side of Disney, the movies and television, but people who've worked with him said he gets along really well with the creative talent. And of course, Disney has appointed one of its top entertainment executives, Dana Walden, to be president, and she's gonna work closely with him.

Alex Ossola (2:01)

What do we know about how D'Amaro will approach the CEO role? Has he said much about that?

Ben Fritz (2:07)

D'Amaro has not said anything exactly about how he'll do it, but I've spoken to a lot of people who've worked with him over the years, and they say that he is a very strategic, financial minded thinker, but he really knows how to get along with anybody who he needs to. He's got very high charisma, and that's an important part of leading an entertainment company, especially an entertainment company that is so well known to the public. You'll have to be a public ambassador for Disney, just as much as he has to be a leader internally.

Alex Ossola (2:40)

Last time Disney chose a new CEO, it didn't go super well. The company named previous Parks boss Bob Chapick as its CEO in 2020, only to fire him and bring back Bob Iger two years later. Is there a concern that something similar could happen this time?

Ben Fritz (2:54)

Look, I think Bob Iger knows that it's a real blight on his resume, how badly it went last time, and everybody close to the company is determined that it goes smoothly this time. And so I think you'll see them put a lot of effort into it to do everything they can to make sure Josh D'Amaro is set up for success and at minimum to let him succeed or fail on his own and not feel like Bob Iger is still looking over his shoulder, which is what happened to Bob Chapick. There's a lot of pressure on Iger to do it smoothly this time. People I know who've spoken to him say that he understands he can't screw it up again.

Alex Ossola (3:27)

How have investors responded to D'Amaro being picked?

Ben Fritz (3:31)

Investors have been very sour on Disney for quite a while. Its stock is down by nearly half from 2021 and it's been basically stagnant for the past three and a half years since Bob Iger returned. They're just really concerned that the transition from linear TV to digital is just really tough for every media company. And while it's leaning further into parks, parks are very vulnerable to the state of the economy. If there's a recession, people go to the parks less often. If we have fewer foreign tourists coming, which is actually happening right now, that can impact the parks. So I say Josh D'Amaro has a lot of work to do to get investors on board with Disney again.

Alex Ossola (4:07)

That was WSJ reporter Ben Fritz. Thanks, Ben.

Ben Fritz (4:10)