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For the last few years, the question of who would succeed Bob Iger<\/strong> hovered over Disney. Entertainment executive Dana Walden<\/strong>\u2019s decades-long career in television, her reputation as a talent-whisperer, and her close relationship with Iger made her the obvious choice from Hollywood\u2019s perspective: \u201cThe word about succession is that it\u2019s all Dana all the time,\u201d a top agent told VF<\/em><\/a> in 2024. Her biggest competition was Josh D\u2019Amaro<\/strong>, the silver-haired head of Disney\u2019s parks and resorts division, who had a devoted following inside and outside the company. When he showed up at Disney theme parks, visitors often lined up to meet him.<\/p>\n The company finally ended its executive bake-off Tuesday with the announcement of D\u2019Amaro as its new CEO. Disney shied away from the historic choice of appointing a first woman to top the company, though a new position was created for Walden: She\u2019s been named President and Chief Creative Officer, giving her oversight of both film and television at Disney.<\/p>\n \u201cReading the tea leaves for at least the past six months or so, there was a sense that Josh was out in front,\u201d says a veteran Hollywood producer who has worked with Disney. \u201cIf you want the most experienced executive in a tumultuous financial environment that’ll give confidence to Wall Street, then Josh is your guy.”<\/p>\n D\u2019Amaro\u2019s appointment might shock those who remember the disastrous, short, and disastrously short tenure of another former parks chief\u2014Bob Chapek<\/strong>\u2014whom Iger handpicked<\/a> to be his successor in 2020. Among other things, Chapek enraged Hollywood talent by messing with Scarlett Johansson<\/strong><\/a> over her Black Widow<\/em> contract and pissed off a sizeable proportion of Disney fans by flip-flopping on Florida\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d bill.<\/p>\n Things got so bad that Iger raced back<\/a> to the boardroom in 2022 to clean up the mess, spending the next four years deliberating on the best choice to take the company forward into a complicated future. He offered ongoing guidance to his top candidates, who were said to be educating themselves on all elements of the business.<\/p>\n Walden seemed perfectly placed as Iger\u2019s protege. They both rose through the ranks of the television business, lived near to each other in LA\u2019s Brentwood neighborhood, and were often spotted taking walks together. Walden was riding particularly high in 2024: that\u2019s when she lured her good friend Ryan Murphy<\/strong> to Disney from Netflix, a streaming era coup. (\u201cDana, like Bob [Iger], is a real star,\u201d Murphy told me back then.\u201dWhen they walk into a room, the energy changes.\u201d) And it looked like Kamala Harris<\/strong>,<\/a> Walden\u2019s pal for more than 30 years, might become president, giving her a hotline to the White House.<\/p>\n Of course, Trump won the presidency instead\u2014and soon, the vibe shifted heavily in D\u2019Amaro\u2019s favor. After paying<\/a> $15 million to settle a defamation case brought against ABC by Trump, yanking<\/a> a trans storyline from a Pixar streaming series, and fighting a high-stakes battle<\/a> over Jimmy Kimmel<\/strong> and free speech, Disney seemed eager to remove itself from the crosshairs of the culture wars and the current administration. Perhaps 2026 suddenly didn\u2019t feel like good timing for the company\u2019s first female CEO.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n