Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

Disney has picked a successor for longtime CEO Bob Iger. On Tuesday, the entertainment giant announced that its theme parks head, Josh D’Amaro, will take over as CEO on March 18th, 2026.

Rumors about Iger’s replacement have been swirling for more than a year now. After a 15-year-long tenure as Disney’s CEO, Iger returned from retirement to helm the company from 2022 to 2026, replacing former CEO Bob Chapek. Since then, all eyes have been on Iger’s potential successor, with D’Amaro, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, and Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden reportedly emerging as potential candidates.

D’Amaro has spent 28 years at Disney and became the chairman of the Disney Experiences segment in 2020, where he oversees more than 12 theme parks and 57 resorts across the globe. He’s also in charge of Disney’s cruise line, its Imagineering unit, consumer products, and digital ventures, which include Disney’s partnership with Epic Games to create its own universe within Fortnite.

As CEO, D’Amaro will steer Disney’s future following the launch of its standalone ESPN streaming service, as well as its billion-dollar deal with OpenAI that will allow users to generate videos using more than 250 of its characters and bring some of these clips to the Disney Plus app.

“Josh D’Amaro is an exceptional leader and the right person to become our next CEO,” Iger says in the press release. “He has an instinctive appreciation of the Disney brand, and a deep understanding of what resonates with our audiences, paired with the rigor and attention to detail required to deliver some of our most ambitious projects.”

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• Emma Roth