Disney Taps James Gorman as Chairman; Board Expects to Name CEO Replacement for Bob Iger in Early 2026
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor The Walt Disney Co. board named James Gorman — who is leading the committee to identify a successor to CEO Bob Iger — as chairman, effective Jan.
2, 2025. Under Gorman’s leadership, Disney said it now expects to announce a new CEO in early 2026. Gorman will succeed Mark Parker, executive chairman of Nike, who concurrently is leaving the Disney board on Jan.
2 after nine years. Gorman is executive chairman of Morgan Stanley and as previously announced he will be stepping down from that role on Dec.
31, 2024. Gorman is currently chair of the Disney board’s succession planning committee, which is working “to identify and prepare the next chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company,” the Mouse House said in a statement. “A critical priority before us is to appoint a new CEO, which we now expect to announce in early 2026,” Gorman said in a statement provided by Disney. “This timing reflects the progress the succession planning committee and the board are making, and will allow ample time for a successful transition before the conclusion of Bob Iger’s contract in December 2026.” The issue of CEO succession at Disney was a flash point in the protracted proxy fight launched by activist investor Nelson Peltz, who alleged Disney’s board failed to do its job with respect to CEO succession planning in not vetting former parks boss Bob Chapek, who was Iger’s personal pick to take over the job in 2020.
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