The Walt Disney Company has had a real-life Succession drama going on for the last couple of years. Ever since Bob Iger returned as CEO, it was clear his tenure would be brief, and he was really only holding things together for the next CEO. We now know that person is Josh D’Amaro.
The current head of Disney’s Experiences division will take the lead as CEO beginning March 18. Alongside him, Dana Walden, the other serious candidate for the top job, will become President and Chief Creative Officer. It’s a big change at a company that is one of the most important and most popular in the entertainment industry. Josh D’Amaro himself seems to truly understand what Disney means to many people. Speaking with ABC, D’Amaro called out the reason he felt Disney was a special company, saying…
The reason this company is so special is because of how creative we are and the human beings that are generating that creativity. In my mind, that never gets replaced.
D’Amaro’s comments were in response to a question regarding AI. Disney has entered into a multi-year agreement that will enable users of OpenAI’s Sora access to Disney characters for AI-generated videos and provide Disney Cast Members with access to ChatGPT. D’Amaro is clear that he is bullish on the use of AI, but that he sees it as a tool to be used by creative people, not something that will replace them.
While these words will need to be followed by deeds, they are absolutely the right words, which, as a fan of Disney, gives me hope that D’Amaro was the right choice as CEO. While his soon-to-be former position as Disney Experiences head had him working with creative people at Walt Disney Imagineering, the job is generally seen as one that is all about the numbers, as it contains Disney’s consumer products and theme park business, two of the company’s major revenue streams.
Disney’s previous attempt at replacing Bob Iger, Bob Chapek, didn’t particularly work out, and one of the reasons appeared to be that Chapek, who also came from the Experiences division, had difficulty working with the creative talents on the studio side. Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney was the most visible example of that.
D’Amaro’s words indicate an understanding that people are important, and that real creativity is something a computer just can't do. Working with those creative people was often seen as one of Bob Iger’s strengths in the role as CEO. D’Amaro says another thing the current and future CEO have in common is a willingness to take risks…
Bob’s a big risk taker. I’m a big risk taker. And that’s been true my whole life, with how I’ve approached growing as an individual to how I’ve approached the business world. And I think you see that on full display today. I mean, just several months ago, we announced a massive expansion in a new part of the world in Abu Dhabi. We did that quickly, we did it ambitiously, and we knew there was a new part of the world to serve.
It sounds like we could be in for some big swings from the new CEO when he takes charge. If he’s willing to take risks, some of them will likely fail, but the ones that succeed could change the future of Disney. The next few years could be quite exciting.
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