Nelson Peltz has accused Bob Iger of manipulating the Walt Disney Company’s CEO succession plan to promote Josh D’Amaro as his successor in order to maintain power after he left the top job.
Mr. Peltz, a billionaire and co-founder and CEO of Trian Fund Management, suggested to the Wall Street Journal that Mr. Iger fought for Mr. D’Amaro, head of parks and cruises, over entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden to give him a reason to stay at Magic Kingdom after his retirement. Walden, who has deep ties to Hollywood, was the top candidate for the CEO position and was elevated to the newly created role of president and chief creative officer.
“Iger needs a reason to stay,” Peltz said. “And if he appoints an entertainment executive as CEO, he will have no excuse to stay.”
Peltz is alluding to Disney’s previous succession plan, which fell apart in early 2020 when Iger handed the CEO baton to former park director Bob Chapek. A few weeks later, the pandemic threw Disney, and much of the world, into crisis. Mr. Iger and Mr. Chapek had been fighting internally over the transition until Disney’s board fired Mr. Chapek at the end of 2022 and Mr. Iger returned as CEO.
During Chapek’s brief tenure, he clashed with Hollywood talent including Scarlett Johansson over pay for the release of “Black Widow” during the coronavirus era.
Peltz predicts that Iger will eventually try to undermine D’Amaro and decide, “Josh doesn’t know anything about the film industry…so I’m going to stay in the field and mentor them.”
Mr D’Amaro’s appointment will be effective from March 18th. Mr. Iger will remain a senior advisor and member of Disney’s board of directors until he retires at the end of the year. Disney Board Chairman James Gorman led the succession process. Gorman said his second attempt at a transition will go more smoothly, telling Variety that D’Amaro is not a total novice in the entertainment field.
“He has some experience. He’s been on Bob’s steering committee for the last few years. He’s been on a lot of the film versions, going through various editing processes. He’s worked with directors to bring in people like (James) Cameron and bring the Avatar series to the park,” Gorman said Tuesday. “He didn’t come out of nowhere.”
Mr. Peltz is Mr. Iger’s longtime adversary, having twice waged high-profile proxy battles against Disney over Mr. Iger’s many grievances with the company, including its previous succession plans. Mr. Peltz argued that the Disney board failed to properly vet Mr. Chapek, rendering him ineffective in his role from the beginning. The activist investor sold all of his Disney stock after losing his bid for a seat on the Mouse House’s board of directors, reportedly netting about $1 billion from the sale.
