Who is the next CEO of Disney?

Walt Disney Company He has a new CEO – Josh D’Amaro.

The president of Disney’s Experiences division, which includes the company’s theme parks, cruise lines, resorts and consumer products, has been named to succeed longtime CEO Bob Iger. He will be the eighth CEO in Disney’s more than 100-year history.

D’Amaro, 54, joined Disney in 1998 and has held leadership roles both domestically and internationally, including chief financial officer of Disney’s global consumer products licensing division, president of the Disneyland Resort and president of Walt Disney World Resort.

His appointment to the top position once again highlights Disney’s storied history of park visitation at a time of tremendous growth for the division – with Disney committing $60 billion in investments in the parks over the course of a decade. D’Amaro beat out Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, for the CEO job after a closely watched succession race.

Since D’Amaro took over as chief experience officer in May 2020, the division’s revenue has grown nearly 40%, from $26.2 billion in fiscal 2019 to $36.2 billion in fiscal 2025.

Last year, the business unit accounted for about 40% of Disney’s total annual revenue.

Perhaps most impressive are the division’s profits: Operating income jumped from $6.8 billion in fiscal 2019 to $10 billion in fiscal 2025, an increase of nearly 50%. Since fiscal year 2022, the Experiences division has contributed between 55% and 70% of Disney’s profits.

Now, in his 28th year with the company, D’Amaro has a proven track record with consumers and has been instrumental in the growth of the Experiences division since taking the helm in the early months of the Covid pandemic.

At that time, almost every aspect of the experience sector was closed, with domestic and international theme parks closed, cruises remaining in port and hotels left vacant. But during that shutdown, when it was safe for workers to be on campus, D’Amaro got to work. Construction has continued on the new Avengers-themed land at Disneyland Resort in California, and cosmetic updates have been made across the company’s local parks.

Disney has also updated its guest technology, a staple of Disney’s theme parks with its rides and attractions. Mobile ordering capabilities have been expanded, and the company has begun work on what will become a new itinerary service and a new way for park-goers to purchase passes to skip the lines for certain rides.

After the parks and resorts reopened, D’Amaro oversaw the launch of new rides such as Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Tron Lightcycle Run, Tian’s Bayou Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, as well as new themed lands such as the revamped Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland.

International development also expanded with the opening of Fantasy Springs at Tokyo Disneyland and the “Zootopia”-themed land at Shanghai Disneyland.

D’Amaro has also been a leader behind growth at Disney Cruise Line, which is set to double the size of its fleet by 2031. Three new ships have already set sail, with a fourth on the way in April.

On consumer products, D’Amaro pushed Iger to invest $1.5 billion in Epic Games, giving Disney a digital playground within the company’s online game Fortnite. This space is especially important for attracting a younger demographic that has become harder for companies to reach.

D’Amaro has experience outside the department as well. As Disney introduced more of its movie franchises into its theme parks, cruises and hotels, he partnered with the company’s studio heads. Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Animation, and more have been mixed in with D’Amaro’s department.

D’Amaro will face a learning curve as CEO of Disney’s live-stream and linear TV businesses.

Years of industry-wide communications blackouts and declining advertising revenues have dramatically impacted all players in the media space, including Disney.

While traditional TV is still profitable, streaming has become the focus of media companies looking to win back those subscribers and keep their content front and center.

While Disney’s flagship streaming service, Disney+, initially gained subscribers at a rapid clip, the company has recently turned to other initiatives such as bundling its streaming services, offering a cheaper ad-supported tier and cracking down on password sharing in an effort to combat slowing growth.

When Iger returned to the helm of Disney in late 2022, building out streaming — Disney+, as well as Hulu and ESPN — remained a priority.

Disney on Monday reported quarterly revenue for its entertainment segment, which includes streaming and theatrical releases, of $11.61 billion, up 7% year over year. However, this was the first quarter in which Disney did not announce streaming subscriber numbers.

Keeping Disney’s streaming future stable will be a major focus for the company’s next CEO.

“If we look back just a few years when our movie business was suffering from Covid, and obviously the streaming business wasn’t in an acceptable place, obviously the future of those two businesses, or let’s call it our entertainment business, is also bright and will grow,” Iger said on the company’s earnings call on Monday.

D’Amaru will also deal with his predecessor’s legacy. The last time Iger walked away from the company, he returned less than two years later to right the ship.

— CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.