{"id":531777,"date":"2026-03-19T00:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T00:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/531777\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T00:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T00:09:13","slug":"bob-iger-officially-exits-as-disney-ceo-as-josh-damaro-takes-helm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/531777\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Iger Officially Exits as Disney CEO as Josh D’Amaro Takes Helm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe curtain has officially come down on Bob Iger<\/a>\u2018s second run as CEO of Disney<\/a> \u2014 marking the end of a years-long succession drama at the company.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the media giant\u2019s 2026 shareholders meeting Wednesday, held virtually, Iger passed the torch to incoming CEO Josh D\u2019Amaro, formerly the company\u2019s head of parks, cruises and consumer products.<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than being a toast to Iger, the confab, which is typically a pro forma affair, served as a stage to shine the spotlight on D\u2019Amaro. In his remarks, D\u2019Amaro indicated that he remains committed to the same principles that Iger adhered to as chief exec \u2014 including wielding Disney+ as the Mouse House\u2019s main gateway to connect with fans worldwide.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDisney+ will continue to evolve beyond a traditional streaming service to become the digital centerpiece of our company: a portal that connects our stories, experiences, games, films and more in entirely new ways,\u201d D\u2019Amaro told investors.<\/p>\n

\n\tD\u2019Amaro said the company is \u201cworking quickly to bring Disney+ and Hulu into a unified experience later this year,\u201d which he predicted will \u201cdrive even more value for subscribers and for our business.\u201d And, he said, \u201cWhen you add ESPN to the mix, it becomes a grand slam for consumers.\u201d The sports giant last summer introduced ESPN Unlimited, a stand-alone streamer that includes everything from ESPN\u2019s networks.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor his part, Iger delivered a prerecorded farewell address.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI appreciate what a privilege it is to be in this business,\u201d Iger said. \u201cI never dreamed I would end up as CEO of the Walt Disney Company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: As Disney CEO Bob Iger Steps Aside, a Look at His Tenure as a Dynamic, Transformative Leader \u2014 With an Asterisk or Two<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWhen he first became CEO in 2005, he said, \u201cWhat I couldn\u2019t have fully known then was how meaningful this journey would become,\u201d while acknowledging that Disney over the years has \u201cexperienced extraordinary change\u201d and faced significant challenges.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve always believed that leaders don\u2019t create the magic,\u201d Iger said, adding that \u201cmy greatest privilege has been to support that talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIger previously retired at the end of 2021, after serving as CEO of Disney for 15 years, 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 his comments Wednesday, Iger said that \u201cwhen I returned in 2022, people had lost confidence in this company.\u201d A little more than three years later, Iger said, \u201cI believe deeply in this company\u2019s future, because I believe in Josh D\u2019Amaro\u201d and his executive team. Iger called out Dana Walden, newly appointed to be Disney\u2019s first chief creative officer overseeing film and TV operations, saying she \u201cwill play a vital role\u201d in \u201cfocusing on our most critical endeavor\u201d of storytelling. <\/p>\n

\n\tIger said he will be \u201ccheering on\u201d D\u2019Amaro and Walden \u201cas I sail off to into the sunset.\u201d About his time serving as CEO of Disney, Iger said, \u201cIt has meant more to me than I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the start of his remarks, D\u2019Amaro praised Iger, who cumulatively led Disney as CEO for nearly 20 years and had started his career at ABC in New York in 1974.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBob, on behalf of our employees, cast members, shareholders, and fans around the world, thank you so much for your tremendous leadership, your steadfast support, and your countless contributions to the Walt Disney Company,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve set an incredible example for all of us. And personally, I can\u2019t thank you enough for your mentorship and friendship through the years. You will be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tD\u2019Amaro also said, \u201cWhen Bob returned to the company a few years ago, his goal was to fortify our business and lay the groundwork for long-term growth, by reigniting creativity and improving performance at our studios, building a robust and profitable streaming business, transforming ESPN for a digital future, and turbocharging our parks and experiences. We\u2019ve accomplished all of those things, and we\u2019re operating from a place of strength, with ample opportunity for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlluding to Paramount Skydance\u2019s pending takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, D\u2019Amaro said that \u201cwhile others in our industry are consolidating just to compete, or struggling to be relevant in a fragmented and disrupted world, Disney is in a category of one\u00a0poised to accelerate into our next era of innovation and growth.\u00a0And this next chapter will be driven by staying focused on world-class creativity, enhanced by technology, bringing unforgettable stories to audiences wherever they are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier Wednesday, D\u2019Amaro, in a Day One memo to Disney staffers<\/a>, spelled out his priorities. No. 1 was that \u201cgreat storytelling and creative excellence will remain our North Star,\u201d a point that underscores he will be leaning on Dana Walden, who is assuming the new role of chief creative officer,<\/a> to lead the film and TV side of the business.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the shareholders meeting, D\u2019Amaro reiterated that the company\u2019s divisions will work in concert as \u201cOne Disney\u201d \u2014 and he cited as \u201cno better example than Toy Story.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe original 1995 film from Pixar, released more than a decade before Disney acquired the company, \u201cchanged moviegoing forever with the first CG-animated feature.\u201d Today, Toy Story characters \u201clive everywhere our audiences do \u2013 in homes across the globe through Disney+ and consumer products, in our hotels, and in every one of our theme parks and cruise ships. And we\u2019re expanding that world with a brand-new story that is just as exciting, fun, and relevant as the films that came before it, when \u2018Toy Story 5\u2019 hits theaters in June.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tD\u2019Amaro also announced the name of the next Disney Cruise Line ship: the Disney Believe, expected to launch in late 2027. The name \u201chonor[s] the dreamers and doers who dare to pursue their own happily ever after,\u201d according to the company<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIger will remain employed by Disney through the end of 2026, in which capacity he will serve as a \u201csenior adviser\u201d to D\u2019Amaro. In a weird coincidence, both Iger (75) and D\u2019Amaro (55) have the same birthday: Feb. 10.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the meeting, Iger was reelected to Disney\u2019s board for a one-year term. Shareholders also voted in favor of the rest of Disney\u2019s recommended slate of directors, including chairman James Gorman and newly added director Jeff Williams, former COO of Apple<\/a>. Shareholders also approved Disney\u2019s executive compensation plan in an advisory vote.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the shareholders meeting, Disney showed a sizzle reel recapping Iger\u2019s time at the company, which it later shared on social media:<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd Iger shared a portion of his farewell remarks on Instagram:<\/p>\n

\n\tPictured top: Josh D\u2019Amaro and Bob Iger at the 70th anniversary celebration of Disneyland on July 17, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The curtain has officially come down on Bob Iger\u2018s second run as CEO of Disney \u2014 marking the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[46632,28,3716,200651],"class_list":["post-531777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bob-iger","tag-business","tag-disney","tag-josh-damaro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}