Disney’s Iger leaves both gifts and burdens for its next CEO

Summarize this content to 100 words: This is The Takeaway from today’s Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with: Disney (DIS) on Tuesday said that Josh D’Amaro, the head of its parks and cruise business, will succeed Bob Iger as its next CEO. While putting the guy in charge of Disney World and cruises might seem like an anachronism in a world dominated by digital media, the numbers speak for themselves. The experiences division, which includes theme parks, resorts, and cruises, has generated the most profits for Disney since 2020. And on Monday, when the company reported quarterly results, that unit posted quarterly revenue of $10 billion, the highest ever, with attendance at US parks up 1% and spending per customer rising 4%. D’Amaro is set to take charge of the world’s most iconic entertainment company, stepping into the role defined by Iger. Iger ran Disney from 2005 to 2020 and then attempted to rescue the company in a post-COVID return in 2022. But whatever standing Iger might have on Wall Street (he either shepherded a legacy brand through the streaming transition or waited too long for it to happen), his problems will soon be D’Amaro’s. The parks guy will have to deal with a TV business in decline, a successful parks business that faces political tensions with decreased foreign tourism, heightened competition in streaming, and whatever disruptions and creative tensions will come from AI. Iger himself has warned whoever follows him that “trying to preserve the status quo is a mistake.” Josh D’Amaro, Chairperson of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, speaks during Day 2 of the D23 Brazil: A Disney Experience at Transamerica Expo Center on Nov. 9, 2024, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Ricardo Moreira/Getty Images for Disney) · Ricardo Moreira via Getty Images After earnings on Monday, Disney’s CFO framed the company’s recent accomplishments as a jumping-off point for its next leader. ″Turbocharging the parks, bringing streaming to profitability and double-digit margins, and improving the theatrical business bodes well for a new CEO,” said Hugh Johnston in an interview with CNBC. A playbook for the future, sure. But those same achievements are also challenges, and the very same ones that Iger has had to contend with after Disney fired the other Bob, former CEO Bob Chapek. What Disney will ultimately do with its linear business is another major question for the company. And it’s playing out as Warner Bros is attempting to split its assets and merge with Netflix — even as Paramount is fighting to block that merger and take Warner Bros. for itself. Disney hasn’t publicly noted which buyer it prefers, or what it will tell Justice Department officials when they start calling to vet the deal. But a supersized Netflix armed with a movie studio would become an even bigger rival. And then there’s AI. At the end of last year, Disney announced a three-year partnership deal with OpenAI. At first glance, the purveyor of what’s pejoratively called “AI slop” didn’t seem like the right fit for a company known for inspiring sentimentality and child-like wonder. But the magic of Disney, from a financial sense, is selling merch. And the House of Mouse, in its earlier partnership with Epic Games and Fortnite, has shown it’s willing to meet audiences wherever they are. We don’t know what long-term challenges D’Amaro will face as more synthetic content spills into media. Through experiences, though, he has shown what the opportunities might be. Encouraging fans to spend more time on Disney properties and getting them excited about visiting theme parks has worked wonders. But doing it in the shadow of Iger instead of alongside him might be more difficult. Hamza Shaban is a reporter for Yahoo Finance covering markets and the economy. Follow Hamza on X @hshaban. Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance



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