One of the big questions for the future of Disney Parks & Resorts (sorry, Experiences) is who becomes the segment Chairman when Josh D’Amaro succeeds CEO Bob Iger (sorry, if he’s announced as successor).
Prior to today, we would’ve said there are a couple leading candidates already in the division, but that we’re in the window where every reshuffling could be done with succession-planning in mind. As the result of a new leadership shake-up, we have a new name to add to the mix.
Here’s the announcement from the Walt Disney Company:
Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro today announced the appointment of Michael Moriarty as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Disney Experiences, succeeding Kevin Lansberry.
Lansberry will be retiring in February 2026 after an extraordinary 39-year career with Disney that included a breadth of roles across Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts in Finance, Business Development, Alliances and Operations, as well as an interim role as CFO for The Walt Disney Company in 2023.
Moriarty brings nearly two decades of Disney leadership experience, including his time as former CFO at Walt Disney Imagineering and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and finance leadership roles at Walt Disney World Resort. For the past five years, he has served as President and Managing Director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
Under Moriarty’s leadership, the resort expanded with the successful opening of World of Frozen — contributing to a record-breaking year in 2024 — and launched a year-long celebration of its 20th anniversary that is currently under way.
“Michael Moriarty brings a deep understanding of our long-term strategy to broaden the reach and impact of Disney Experiences,” said D’Amaro. “His global perspective and leadership will help guide us through an exciting chapter of growth, reaching new fans in new places and on new platforms.”
An announcement regarding Moriarty’s successor at Hong Kong Disneyland will be made at a later date.
Moriarty has had an incredibly successful tenure at Hong Kong Disneyland. Here are a few key financial highlights from the most recent fiscal year:
- HKDL recorded a historic net profit of HK$838 million, representing a year-on-year improvement of HK$1.2 billion.
- HKDL saw record EBITDA and revenue in FY24. EBITDA improved by HK$1.4 billion to HK$2.3 billion, and revenue grew by 54% year-on-year to HK$8.8 billion.
- Per capita guest spending grew by 28%.
- Total attendance reached an all-time high of 7.7 million, attributable to a strong rebound in mainland China and overseas visitation, as well as continued strong local momentum.
All of this is before World of Frozen had been open for a full year, or the 20th Anniversary started.
Based on what we saw during our last visit to Hong Kong Disneyland, the once “little castle park that could” has blossomed into its own. It’s probably a pretty safe bet that these numbers will show significant year-over-year improvement, with even higher profit, attendance and occupancy numbers.
Given Moriarty’s leadership in achieving these results, as well as opening World of Frozen, launching the 20th Anniversary, and getting the Marvel expansion back on track, it seems fairly obvious that he’d be considered for the Parks Chair position. This is an actual promotion–he’s not being put out to pasture with a fake job, like helming Disney’s coverage of the Olympics.
Speaking of fake jobs covering the Olympics, the other leaders I’d keep an eye on for the Parks Chair position are Thomas Natacha Rafalski, Présidente of Disneyland Paris and Thomas Mazloum, President of Disneyland Resort.
Both have strong credentials, and seem poised to continue their ascent up the ranks. I’ve also heard plenty of positives about both, and have had the chance to talk to Mazloum on a few occasions at various events and have come away impressed. Mazloum, in particular, has successfully managed a lot of major projects in challenging conditions post-reopening–and Disneyland in California is a frequent stepping-stone position to the top job.
I would be surprised if the current President of Walt Disney World is in the running; I’m kind of surprised he’s still around. But again, my perspective is necessarily that of an outsider. I’ll be closely watching other upcoming parks leadership changes to see who gets cycled into important new roles, and who is quietly sidelined with symbolic “promotions” to fake jobs.
As for the suggestion that Josh D’Amaro is a leading candidate to be Disney’s next CEO, or more accurately, the leading candidate, that’s not just our view. This from Bloomberg earlier in October:
Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger was chatting at the Farmshop restaurant in Santa Monica, California, a couple weeks ago when the conversation turned tense.
His breakfast partner suggested Josh D’Amaro, head of Disney’s theme-parks division, “will do a great job when he’s appointed CEO.” Iger bristled, according to a person who witnessed the exchange. He raised his voice, saying the board hadn’t made a decision and that he had “no idea” where that notion was coming from.
The conversation reflects a growing consensus among many Disney executives, former executives and industry leaders that D’Amaro will succeed Iger when the company names a new CEO as planned early next year. The board is focused on four internal candidates, including D’Amaro, entertainment co-heads Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, and Jimmy Pitaro, who leads ESPN. Iger’s contract ends in December 2026.
This is one of several reports in the last couple of years suggesting that D’Amaro and Walden are the front-runners.
It’s possible these are just educated guesses as opposed to insider info, though. I know absolutely nothing and I would’ve guessed that D’Amaro and Walden would be front-runners simply by virtue of their positions, public appearances, and other variables. When it comes to appearances, D’Amaro has made a lot of those over the last 6 months that would seem to signal he’s CEO in waiting.
More importantly, business is booming for the Experiences division. It became the company’s primary profit engine in 2022, replacing the declining cable TV business. Experiences now represents over 70% of Disney’s overall operating income, up from 41% in 2019 and 34.5% in 2018.
Experiences is the one division that has actually grown measurably since 2020. Through the first nine months of fiscal 2025, profit in the Disney Experiences division rose to $8.12 billion, a third more than Disney’s TV, film, streaming and sports segments combined. The past few years have been a struggle for those businesses.
Because of the segment’s success under D’Amaro’s leadership, it is also seeing $60 billion of investment over the next decade. It’s our expectation that this number actually ends up being lower than the actual spend (it also doesn’t account for projects/partnerships that will be revenue generators without investment, like Disneyland Abu Dhabi). And unlike the money pit that is streaming, there should actually be ROI from the parks!
Given all that, it seems only logical that Disney’s next CEO would come from its most successful division, and be the one person who has a fairly spotless record during that timeframe.
I won’t pretend to know much about Dana Walden. I’ve read a lot about her to get up to speed on succession planning; she seems to be reasonably well-liked and good at what she does.
But I’ll be the first to concede that I don’t have much passion for the entertainment side of the business, so much of my knowledge is superficial and not informed by any actual conversations with people. Just what I’ve read in the Hollywood trades. And when it comes to stuff like succession planning, a lot of that is probably placed by Walden’s camp to paint a positive picture of her. (Or conversely, I suppose, by the camps of her competition.)
So I’ll just point out the obvious. Beyond her business acumen and relationships with Hollywood talent, the advantage Walden has is that she’d be historic–Disney’s first female CEO. The liability that she poses is that she’d probably be viewed as the more political pick, not for that reason, but because of those same relationships and since her name has been involved with several high-profile problems. I’d hazard a guess that Disney’s Board of Directors would be reluctant to name Dana Walden as CEO between now and November 2028.
In what seems to be an increasingly unpopular opinion among Walt Disney World and Disneyland diehards, my hope is that D’Amaro is the next CEO. Admittedly, this is at least partially a matter of expediency and to ensure continuity of projects.
All it takes is a regime change to derail projects that aren’t sufficiently far along in construction. New leaders love to make their mark on theme park projects, in ways both good and bad. So let’s say that, for example, Villains Land in Magic Kingdom or Pandora in Disney California Adventure are only cleared parcels of land in late 2026.
Let’s further assume, for the sake of this hypothetical, that Dana Walden gets the nod as CEO. What if she secretly loves Bob’s Burgers or some other franchise that came over with her from Fox, and thinks that would be a good fit for Magic Kingdom and DCA expansion?
Suddenly we end up with two cloned Bob’s Burgers lands, making some of you who argued the Simpsons are “un-Disney” wish we could’ve have Springfield instead. I’m not saying this will happen, as it’s incredibly far-fetched. It’s just to underscore the point that leadership shake-ups result in priority and project changes, with new CEOs favoring their own pet properties. Some of you have a failure of imagination when it comes to the downside risk in the unknown.
There’s little to no risk of this if D’Amaro is named CEO. He would essentially be continuity with the current Parks & Resorts regime. There may be little things over which he and Iger disagreed, but I cannot see him cancelling an entire land or altering the course of a project entirely. D’Amaro is the consistency candidate; anyone else could be an agent of change and chaos.
A good thing, I suppose, if you’d like to see some change and chaos–I know many fans supported the Peltz proxy battle for precisely this reason. But just remember that the grass is always greener. When you’re advocating for uncertain changes, you’re probably envisioning a best-case scenario where things get better. Instead consider the counterfactual, where things get measurably worse. The next CEO could hate theme parks, and see growth potential in other business units and want to over-invest in those.
Ultimately, this is why I’d like to have someone from Parks & Resorts serve as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. Right now, that person would be Josh D’Amaro. I’ve become less bullish on D’Amaro since he came aboard Disney, largely because his track record on projects that were started and completed under his tenure is a mixed bag.
Nevertheless, I’d rather have D’Amaro over the realistic alternatives for the simple reason that he’s a “Parks Guy.” Not only that, but I’d like to believe that his hands have been tied by the streaming woes and everything else, so treading water for a few years was the best case scenario. I would like to believe the blame for the EPCOT overhaul debacle lies elsewhere, and the 2025 projects that are underway will go much better.
On a positive note, we’ve heard plenty about D’Amaro from past colleagues and Cast Members–and still want to give him the benefit of the doubt based on that. People who have worked with him–and not just frontline Cast Members who have superficial encounters–suggest that he’s the real deal. That D’Amaro is someone who truly “gets” Walt Disney World and Disneyland, cares about Cast Members and the guest experience, and would advocate for theme parks.
The bottom line is that I want to see someone–anyone–come from the Parks & Resorts side of the business. I want that to be the company’s focus. That’s my personal bias. It would be nice to have a CEO who came up through the parks and understands their importance to the company’s creative legacy–and not just as the goose(s) that lay golden eggs. Whether that’s Josh D’Amaro, the triumphant return of Tom Staggs, or some mystery third candidate–I’ll take them over anyone from Hollywood or ESPN.
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OUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about this leadership shake-up? Are you happy, disappointed, or indifferent towards the news? Recognize this as a ‘necessary’ move even if you’re not wild about it? Who do you think will be CEO of the Walt Disney Company on January 1, 2027? Will it be Bob Iger (still), Josh D’Amaro, Dana Walden, Jimmy Pitaro, Alan Bergman, Tom Staggs, Kevin Mayer, or none of the above? Who should it be? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
