Walt Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, has been set up with a lucrative pay package for his first year, with a total grant-date value of roughly $45 million and a mandate to lead one of the most exciting and well-known companies in the world. But he’ll also get something that could prove to be the most valuable factor in the succession game: Bob Iger’s planned exit.
According to Disney’s announcement, two-time CEO Iger will step down from the board’s powerful executive committee after the annual shareholder meeting next month on March 18, and he’ll depart completely at the end of the year. After the chief-executive baton is passed to D’Amaro next month, Iger’s employment will transition into an advisory role. In the interim, the four-decade veteran leader will report “exclusively” to the board, where he will remain as a member and stand for reelection before investors at the shareholder meeting in March.
That’s a big change from the last time Iger left the corner office. In comparison, when Disney appointed former CEO Bob Chapek in February 2020, Iger maintained a day-to-day full-time role as executive chairman and retained control over directing the company’s creative endeavors. Disney named Susan Arnold as chairman in 2021, but wound up bringing back Iger in November 2022 for his second stint as CEO after the company floundered.
This time around, D’Amaro will serve as CEO with ex–Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman as chairman of the board. Gorman, a Wall Street veteran with a deft touch for CEO transitions, was named Disney’s chairman in 2025, after having led its succession planning committee since 2024 and setting the stage for the official transition this week.
This structure, with D’Amaro as CEO, Gorman as chairman, and Iger being gracefully ushered to the exit, is the type of structure that typically allows for a smooth transition and a “clean break,” said board advisor and lawyer Richard Leblanc. That’s typically what boards strive for in an orderly succession, he said.
“There is always pressure on the new CEO when the old CEO is there to not make any sudden moves, and to carry on the CEO’s legacy,” said Leblanc. In contrast, when the old CEO moves on, “they exit the company so that the new CEO can find their way and implement change without feeling as though someone is looking over their shoulder.”
As for compensation, D’Amaro’s package includes a base salary of $2.5 million, a target annual bonus amount of 250% at $6.25 million, and an annual long-term award of $26.25 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He’ll also get a one-time bonus of $9.7 million for his promotion from Disney Experiences chairman to CEO of the enterprise. The total grant-date value of his package, including the one-time award and assuming full payouts, is about $44.7 million, although the lion’s share of his pay depends on hitting certain financial benchmarks and will only pay out over the course of multiple years. Last year, Iger’s total compensation was valued at about $45.8 million.
Disney’s entire succession process is much more formal this time around, said Arpita Agnihotri, a strategy expert and associate professor at Penn State who authored a case study on CEO planning at Disney. With Gorman helming the succession committee, Iger mentored four internal candidates for the CEO role and trained them equally well, and the board reached a consensus on the best candidate for the job, she said.
“There is clarity about who will be running this company,” noted Agnihotri.
There is always a lingering “invisible hand” of the former CEO anytime there’s a major transition with a well-known executive, said Agnihotri. And in the short term, D’Amaro is certainly likely to take Iger’s advice and counsel and consider it invaluable. But once Iger is gone, D’Amaro will be able to completely run the show, and he’ll have the opportunity to convince shareholders he is the right choice, much as he convinced the board, she explained. Once that happens, the invisible hand will withdraw, Agnihotri added, but investors and market observers will be watching Disney very closely to ensure there won’t be a repeat of the last time the board tried to replace Iger.
“Everyone has burned their fingers,” said Agnihotri. “Shareholders, the board, and other stakeholders are going to keep a close eye.”
A key role for Dana Walden
She noted that the appointment of Dana Walden as president and chief creative officer is also a key note in the CEO transitional chord. While D’Amaro has credibility as a financial expert with deep expertise in resorts and parks, Walden has the creative chops to counter any potential criticism that the board has erred by appointing a finance-minded CEO to lead a creative company.
“In my opinion, she is going to be the right hand to the new CEO,” said Agnihotri. Investors will want assurances that creativity doesn’t lag as the company seeks to boost the Disney+ streaming service as a major revenue multiplier for Disney—and to compete with Netflix.
According to Walden’s offer letter, her pay includes $3.75 million in yearly salary, a target bonus of $7.5 million, an annual long-term incentive award of $15.75 million, plus a one-time award tied to her promotion valued at $5.26 million. The grant-date value of her total pay package, including the one-time award, is roughly $32.26 million, although her awards vest over multiple years and will only pay out if she hits key performance hurdles.
It’s not a surprise that Disney went from a duality with an executive chair plus a CEO to a unitary command structure with a CEO plus an independent board chair, said Leblanc. Disney’s board wants to get this done right, he said. Stipulating that he was speaking generally and in no way referring to Iger, Leblanc noted that when an outgoing CEO hangs out as executive chair, “it’s hard for the new CEO to make their imprimatur on the company.”
