It's not exactly the Logan Roy family from the hit TV series Succession, but it's time for Bob Iger and his board at Walt Disney (DIS -0.24%) to start looking for the media giant's next CEO. Disney announced a board shakeup on Monday. It will soon have its fourth chairman in the last three years.
More importantly, Disney finally offered up an initial timeline to find Iger's replacement. The board expects to name its next CEO by early 2026. Iger's extended contract has him at the helm through the end of that year, but naming a new leader much earlier in the year will give Iger time to perfect the transition. The company can't afford to botch the baton exchange the way it did when Iger tapped Bob Chapek as his replacement in early 2020.
More importantly, a tangible succession deadline eliminates one of the biggest question marks weighing on Disney's future. After two terms of perpetual contract extensions, Iger is finally two years away from leaving the corner office again. He needs to get it right this time.
Finding a CEO
Several potential successors would bubble up to the surface in Iger's first run at the top. He stuck around for 15 years. When he was finally ready to go, his timing was lousy. Chapek was handed the reins in late February 2020, just as the world was shutting down as a result of the global COVID-19 crisis.
History may not smile kindly on the Chapek era, but he was dealt a losing hand. His domestic theme parks shuttered three weeks into his tenure. His cruise ships and theatrical release schedule idled for a lot longer.
I'm certainly not Team Chapek here, but it's worth noting that Disney stock hit an all-time high north of $200 a year into his tenure. Surging subscribers for the nascent Disney+ streaming service and an unsustainable market rally as COVID-19 vaccinations became widely available fueled the spike. The shares are trading for less than half of their peak during Chapek's leadership, even though the reign since the highs has been longer with Iger now than Chapek.
Iger has a tighter grip on the baton this time. Disney's streaming services have turned the corner of profitability. It's ruling the box office again in 2024. There's also an impressive slate of potential in-house executives that could slide in to lead the company into the future come 2026.
Image source: Disney.
Eye of the Iger
The two lead horses right now are likely to be Dana Walden and Josh D'Amaro. Walden is the co-chair of Disney Entertainment, watching over its media, news, and content empire that includes the company's ascending and now money-making streaming business. She came over in 2019 as CEO of Fox Television Group as a part of Disney's largest acquisition to date. If she gets the nod, she will be Disney's first female CEO in its 101-year history.
D'Amaro chairs the media behemoth's Experiences segment. His terrain includes the world's most popular theme parks, as well as Disney's growing fleet of cruise ships and its timeless consumer products division.
Both candidates ooze charisma, something that was never Chapek's strong suit. Granted, neither one has a complete mastery of Disney's various moving parts, but the same can be said of other potential choices, including Walden's co-chair, Alan Bergman, and ESPN Chairman James Pitaro.
Disney knows that a lot is riding on Iger's successor. The shares have been languishing even under Iger. Disney is trading flat -- down 0.2%, if you want to be exact -- since its close on the day the board announced his return as CEO 23 months ago. The media stock has been trading in the double digits exclusively since late June.
Don't blame Iger, though. Margin is still well below pre-pandemic highs, and revenue growth has been meandering in the low single digits for more than a year, but he's delivering on most of the goals he set out for Disney on his return. Iger will have served as CEO for 19 years of prosperity and shrewd franchise consolidation, but now his legacy rests on the ability to put the success in succession the second time around.
