Disney parks chief Josh D’Amaro will take over for Bob Iger as CEO

Disney has named its parks chief Josh D’Amaro to succeed Bob Iger as the entertainment giant's top executive.

D’Amaro will become the 9th CEO in the more than 100-year-old company's history. He has overseen the company’s theme parks, cruises and resorts since 2020. The Experiences division has been a substantial moneymaker for Disney, with $36 billion in annual revenue in fiscal 2025 and 185,000 employees worldwide.

The 54-year-old takes over a time when Disney is flush with box-office hits like “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and its streaming business is strong. At the same time, Disney has seen a decline in foreign visitors to its domestic theme parks. Tourism to the U.S. has fallen overall during an aggressive immigration crack down by the Trump administration, as well as clashes with almost all of country's trading partners.

D'Amaro will be tasked with tapping into Disney's vast collection of intellectual property to help create successful movies and theme park additions, while also pushing for streaming growth and continuing to build up its sports business.

The decision on the next chief executive at Disney comes almost four years after the company's choice to replace Iger went disastrously, forcing Iger back into the job.

Only two years after stepping down as CEO, Iger returned to Disney in 2022 after a period of clashes, missteps and a weakening financial performance under his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek.

Disney meticulously and methodically sought out its next CEO this time. The company created a succession planning committee in 2023, but the search began in earnest in 2024 when Disney enlisted James Gorman, who is currently Disney's chairman and previously served as Morgan Stanley's executive chairman, to lead the effort. That still gave it ample opportunity to vet candidates, as Iger agreed to a contract extension.

Disney said that Iger will continue to serve as a senior adviser and board member until his retirement from the company at the end of the year.

While external candidates were considered, it was widely expected that Disney would look internally for the next CEO. The advantage would be that Disney executives were already being mentored by Iger, and had extensive contact with the company’s 15 board members, of which Iger is a member.

Disney is unique in that its top executive must oversee a sprawling entertainment company with branches reaching in every direction, while also serving as an unusually public figure.

D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden quickly emerged as the front-runners for the top job.

D’Amaro, who has been with Disney since 1998, has been leading the charge on Disney’s multiyear $60 billion investment into its cruise ships, resorts and theme parks. He also oversees Walt Disney Imagineering, which is in charge of the design and development of the company’s theme parks, resorts, cruise ships, and immersive experiences worldwide. In addition, D’Amaro has been leading Disney’s licensing business, which includes its partnership with Epic Games.

“Throughout this search process, Josh has demonstrated a strong vision for the company’s future and a deep understanding of the creative spirit that makes Disney unique in an ever-changing marketplace," Gorman said in prepared remarks. “He has an outstanding record of business achievement, collaborating with some of the biggest names in entertainment to bring their stories to life in our parks, showcasing the power of combining Disney storytelling with cutting-edge technology.”

In her most recent role as co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, Walden has helped oversee Disney’s streaming business, along with its entertainment media, news and content businesses. She joined Disney in 2019. Before that, Walden spent 25 years at 21st Century Fox and was CEO of Fox Television Group.

Walden will now step into the newly created role of president and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Co. She will report to D'Amaro.

“I think if you think about what is the heart of the Disney company, it’s the creativity. It’s this amazing IP that’s been produced over decades, going back to Walt, and the storytelling that comes from that creativity. And I think Dana, working with Josh and ensuring that the best creativity permeates all of our businesses, is what we wanted,” Gorman said in an interview with CNBC.

There had been speculation that Disney might go the route of naming co-CEOs, a move that has started to become more popular with companies. Oracle and Spotify are among those who named co-CEOs in 2025.

D’Amaro and Walden's appointments are effective on March 18.

Video screens above trading posts the floor of the New York Stock Exchange display a congratulatory message to Disney parks chief Josh D'Amaro named as its next CEO, succeeding Bob Iger, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The logo for The Walt Disney Company is displayed above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Workers dock The Disney Adventure cruise ship at the Agua Clara locks of the Panama Canal in Colon, Panama, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

FILE - A Disney logo forms part of a menu for the Disney Plus movie and entertainment streaming service on a computer screen in Walpole, Mass, Nov. 13, 2019. AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - Disney CEO Bob Iger arrives at the premiere of "Avengers: Endgame" at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Monday, April 22, 2019. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired on targets across the Middle East while American and Israeli airstrikes hit the Islamic Republic early Friday as the war neared the end of its fifth week unabated and the U.N. Security Council prepared to meet over Tehran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite claims from the U.S. and Israel that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed, Tehran has continued to keep the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors. Bahrain and Kuwait both reported early morning barrages from Iran, while Israel warned of incoming missiles.

Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it wasn’t immediately clear what was hit.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and is impacting global economies.

Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, were around $109 early Friday, up more than 50% from Feb. 28 when Israel and the U.S. started the war with their attacks on Iran.

Shipping had flowed freely through the strait before the war, but U.S. President Donald Trump has said it’s not now Washington’s responsibility to get the waterway reopened, instead putting the onus on others, saying this week that the countries that depend more on fuel shipped through Hormuz should “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”

The U.N. Security Council was expected to vote Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would authorize defensive action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait. Bahrain’s initial draft would have allowed countries to “use all necessary means” to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France — who have veto power on the Council — expressed opposition to approving the use of force.

Speaking Thursday in South Korea, French President Emmanuel Macron said the American expectation that the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened by force was unrealistic.

Macron said a military operation “would take an infinite amount of time and would expose anyone passing through the strait to coastal threats from (Iran’s) Revolutionary Guard." He added that reopening of the strait “can only be done in coordination with Iran,” through negotiations that would follow a potential ceasefire.

Talks organized by Britain and involving more than 40 countries focused on political rather than military means to secure the strait. The nations, which didn't include the U.S., urged increased diplomatic pressure on Iran and possible sanctions.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion in its fight with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militant group. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.

Rising reported from Bangkok. AP journalists Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Iraqi women hold a portrait of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, during a protest against U.S. and Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, in the Shi'ite district of Kazimiyah in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A woman checks a destroyed house that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Saksakiyeh village, south Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - This image released by Bahrain's Interior Ministry shows firefighters extinguishing flames after an Iranian projectile struck an industrial area in Ma'ameer, Bahrain, March 9, 2026. (Bahrain Interior Ministry via AP, File)

Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)