Disney CEO Bob Iger is planning on retiring at the end of 2026, leaving speculation about his succession strategy. Who at the company is primed to take the throne? Are there any drawbacks to being a frontrunner? Guest banter host Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw examine.
Tale as old as time? Iger has announced retirement plans before, and he briefly handed Bob Chapek the keys to the kingdom in 2020 before returning to the driver’s seat in 2022. “This time, he says he's really focused on succession,” Belloni explains. “The board is focused and they are going to pick someone, and they have whittled it down to four internal candidates.”
One jump ahead? The board is currently eyeing four internal candidates: Parks chairman Josh D’Amaro, head of television Dana Walden, head of film Alan Bergman, and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro. But do any candidates stand out? “I think because D’Amaro runs parks, which is Disney's best-performing business right now, and Dana has the sort of creative chops and the relationship with the community in Hollywood — that I think is seen as another key part of having that job,” Shaw says.
Poor unfortunate souls? There may be some drawbacks to being one of the prime candidates in line for succession. “The frontrunner is not a good place to be with Bob Iger. We've seen that over and over again, with these executives who are considered the frontrunner and like, I saw one of the trades refer to Dana Walden as this being ‘her job to lose.’ And I was like, ‘Oof, if I'm Dana, I hate seeing that.’ Because A: It's not true. And B: it just puts this impression out there that she's campaigning," says Belloni.