A change in Disney’s executive leadership that has been in the works for many years will take place this week. Josh D’Amaro will take over as CEO from Bob Iger. Josh D’Amaro is a 28-year veteran of the company who most recently ran the Disney Experience theme parks, cruises and consumer products division.
D’Amaro, 55, will officially assume the role as Disney’s ninth chief executive officer in its nearly 103-year history on Wednesday, March 18, in conjunction with the company’s 2026 annual shareholder meeting.
Here are five things you should know about Damaro.
He has a politician’s instinct for connecting with people.
As for Mr. D’Amaro, he has the ability as a politician to make everyone he meets feel seen and heard, as evidenced by his February 25 cover story in Variety. “He’s a very approachable guy,” said Joe Gavigan, a friend of D’Amaro who worked in Disney’s parks department for 25 years. “He looks people in the eye. He’s very confident, but not cocky.” He is said to be a minor celebrity among Disney park enthusiasts but widely popular among the company’s rank-and-file employees. At Disneyland in Anaheim, D’Amaro is “constantly accosted by guests wanting to hug him or take pictures with him. I’ve walked through the parks with dozens of Disney executives over the years, and I’ve never seen a mob like this before,” said Marcus Buckingham, a leadership expert who wrote D’Amaro’s upcoming book, “Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business.”
He delegates responsibilities but is also very practical
Mr. D’Amaro does not have a deep Hollywood background and has made it clear that he will rely on the expertise and connections of newly promoted chief creative officer Dana Walden (who was also running for the CEO position). “Dana has a tremendous amount of experience in Hollywood, television and creativity,” Dana said at Disney’s Town Hall the day after her CEO appointment was officially announced. He predicted that “the partnership between the two executives will only grow stronger.”
“Josh isn’t afraid to surround himself with people who know more about something than he does,” said Spencer Newman, a former Disney executive who is now Netflix’s chief financial officer.
At the same time, D’Amaro is extremely detail-oriented. At Disneyland, for example, he is “famous for being particular about everything from the color of the trash can to the flavor of the popcorn,” according to a Variety cover story. In 2022, shortly after Mattel announced a deal to make Disney Princess and Frozen dolls and other products, Mr. D’Amaro drove himself to the toymaker’s headquarters in El Segundo, without a publicist or assistant. “Josh wanted to meet the people who were actually doing the work, the product designers and developers,” said Mattel CEO Inon Kreiz, a former Disney executive. “That was very telling of his approach. It was about people and work.”
He became emotional when he learned he had won the CEO position.
D’Amaro said at Disney City Hall that when he was told by Iger and Chairman James Gorman (Feb. 2) that he would be named the company’s next CEO, he “gasped for breath.” “It’s surreal to be invited into a room two days ago and have Bob and James Gorman on the other side of the door asking me to be their CEO. There are so many things going through your head in that moment,” D’Amaro said. “I was a little embarrassed. When I got the news, I held my breath a little because it was a big responsibility.”
he has received a large salary increase
Disney has not disclosed Mr. D’Amaro’s compensation in recent years. SEC rules require public companies to disclose the compensation of their CEO, CFO and the other three highest-paid executive officers. This means D’Amaro’s compensation as head of the Disney Experience in 2025 will be less than the $6.2 million total compensation awarded to outgoing Disney chief communications officer Christina Sheik.
D’Amaro’s annual compensation in his first year as Disney CEO is targeted to be between $38.5 million and $44.7 million. That figure includes a potential cash bonus worth 250% of his $2.5 million salary and a one-time stock grant worth $9.705 million for promotion to CEO. He will also receive an annual long-term incentive equity grant with a target amount of $26.25 million. By comparison, Iger’s total compensation was $45.8 million in 2025.
When he was in college, he wanted to be an artist.
D’Amaro graduated in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgetown University. He initially had a different career path in mind. I studied art at Skidmore College in New York. But by the end of his sophomore year, he began to question whether he would be able to support his family on an artist’s salary. “In my head, I was going to be an artist. Alongside my business, I was painting, sculpting, studying art,” D’Amaro said at an event held in April 2025 at Georgetown’s McDonough Business School, the Hoya student newspaper reported. “I loved it, but I realized I didn’t know what to do if I left. That’s when I came to Georgetown to study business and marketing.”
D’Amaro, who grew up in Medfield, Massachusetts, married his high school sweetheart, Susan. The couple has two children and lives in Coto de Caza, Orange County, California.
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