{"id":260107,"date":"2026-01-30T23:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T23:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/260107\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T23:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T23:28:07","slug":"bob-iger-to-step-down-as-disney-ceo-before-end-of-2026-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/260107\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Iger to Step Down as Disney CEO Before End of 2026: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBob Iger<\/a> may be exiting the Mouse House before his CEO contract expires at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\n\tIger has told \u201cassociates\u201d that he plans to step down as CEO and \u201cpull back from daily management\u201d before the Dec. 31, 2026, end of his contract, the Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> Friday, citing anonymous sources. Per the Journal story, Iger has told \u201cpeople close to him that he is ready to move on from the grind of being CEO\u201d \u2014 and that he was \u201cfrustrated\u201d by \u201cconflicts\u201d at ABC over the nearly weeklong suspension of Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> in September over on-air remarks the late-night host made about Charlie Kirk\u2019s killer.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety has reached out to Disney<\/a> for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe board of Disney has said it expects to announce Iger\u2019s successor \u201cin early 2026.\u201d<\/a> The board of directors is planning to meet next week at Disney\u2019s Burbank headquarters, where they are \u201cexpected to vote on who should take the top job,\u201d the Journal reported.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe appointment of the next CEO will be determined by the full Board, and we currently expect to announce the appointment of the Company\u2019s next CEO in early 2026,\u201d Disney chairman James Gorman said in Disney\u2019s 2026 proxy statement, filed last week<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe company did not identify which execs are on the shortlist but said, \u201cEach internal candidate is going through a rigorous preparation process, including mentorship from Mr. Iger, external coaching and engagement with all Directors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe two leading candidates to become Disney\u2019s next CEO, according to analysts tracking the situation, are Josh D\u2019Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, who oversees the company\u2019s parks, cruises and consumer products, and Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, whose purview includes the global streaming business. (For what it\u2019s worth, online betting markets are heavily favoring D\u2019Amaro.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe WSJ report also said Iger has told several associates that \u201che would like to spend more of his time and energy on other things, such as sailing his new and larger superyacht, the Aquarius,\u201d which was delivered to him last summer. In addition, Iger has said he wants to dedicate more time working with his wife, Willow Bay, who is the dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and on Angel City FC, the women\u2019s soccer team the couple bought<\/a> a controlling stake in two years ago.<\/p>\n

\n\tIger, after serving as CEO of Disney for 15 years, previously retired at the end of 2021 and was replaced by then-CEO Bob Chapek. But in November 2022, the board ousted Chapek and\u00a0brought Iger back as chief exec<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2025, Iger\u2019s total compensation was $45.8 million<\/a>, up 11.5%. That included Disney stock awards worth $21 million, $14 million in stock options, a $7.25 million cash bonus and $2.59 million in other compensation (including $1.85 million for security and $568,670 for personal air travel).<\/p>\n

\n\tIger is up for reelection to Disney\u2019s board at the 2026 annual shareholders meeting for a one-year term. The meeting will be held virtually on March 18.<\/p>\n

\n\tIger \u201chas an unmatched knowledge of the Company and the creative content it produces, and an in-depth understanding of fostering innovation through technology and connecting to audiences in our markets around the world,\u201d Disney said in the proxy statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bob Iger may be exiting the Mouse House before his CEO contract expires at the end of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[27997,2398,156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-260107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-bob-iger","9":"tag-disney","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}