3 February 2026
If you are covering Disney’s appointment of Josh D’Amaro as chief executive to replace Bob Iger, please find below a comment from Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot:
“In appointing Josh D’Amaro, Disney has chosen the successor to Bob Iger that the market was expecting. D’Amaro currently leads Disney’s experiences business and as we saw with yesterday’s results, it remains the most important and significant part of the business, despite it transitioning to a streaming world. D’Amaro is a Disney lifer and his experience within the parks and resorts business will be crucial as the company looks to navigate political and macroeconomic headwinds. He should continue to lean on Iger following the transition to help the business through these choppy waters.
“In a nod to that digital world Disney is in, the announcement today also confirms the other candidate for the top job, Dana Walden, will be promoted to chief creative officer. She knows that side of the business inside out, but there is much to do with the Disney+ product to bring it up to the standard consumers come to expect. With a deal in place with OpenAI to begin adding artificial intelligence content onto the platform, there is innovation happening, but again it needs to strike the right balance.
“The media industry is undergoing a huge amount of consolidation as legacy players aim to survive and compete, while the likes of Netflix aim to stay at the top. Disney is in a strong position to be competing given its library of content, but it needs to get this succession right. Too many missteps from its previous attempt to move on from Iger have resulted in it being behind the eight ball. With Netflix, Paramount and Warner Bros still fighting it out, if Disney gets this right it can steal a march on the opposition. However, history has shown Disney can be slow to capitalise on events in its favour.”
