Who is Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s next CEO?

The Walt Disney Company has a new CEO — Josh D’Amaro.

The chairman of Disney’s experiences division, which includes the company’s theme parks, cruise line, resorts and consumer products, was named to succeed long-time CEO Bob Iger. He will be the eighth CEO in Disney’s more than 100-year history.

D’Amaro, 54, joined Disney in 1998 and has held leadership roles both domestically and internationally, including chief financial officer of Disney’s consumer products global licensing division, president of Disneyland Resort and president of Walt Disney World Resort.

“Josh is somebody who’s got decades of experience at Disney,” James Gorman, chairman of Disney’s board of directors, told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin Tuesday. “He’s a huge operator. He’s run massive operations across the whole parks and cruises businesses. He’s also got great creative touch.”

D’Amaro’s appointment to the top job once again brings to the fore Disney’s storied history in park-going at a time of massive growth for the division — with Disney committing to $60 billion in park investments over a decade. D’Amaro beat out Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, for the CEO spot after a closely watched succession race.

Since D’Amaro took over as head of experiences in May 2020, revenue in the the division has grown nearly 40%, from $26.2 billion in fiscal 2019 to $36.2 billion in fiscal 2025.

Last year the business unit accounted for about 40% of Disney’s total annual revenue.

Perhaps more impressive is the division’s profits: Experiences operating income has jumped from $6.8 billion in fiscal 2019 to $10 billion in fiscal 2025, a nearly 50% increase. Since fiscal 2022, the experiences division has accounted for anywhere between 55% and 70% of Disney’s profits.

Now in his 28th year with the company, D’Amaro has a proven track record with consumers and has been instrumental in the growth of the experiences division since taking over the helm in the early months of the Covid pandemic.

At the time, practically every facet of the experiences segment was shuttered — domestic and international parks were closed, cruises remained at port and hotels were left vacant. But during that shutdown period, when it was safe to have workers on campus, D’Amaro got to work. Construction continued on the new Avengers-themed land at the Disneyland Resort in California, and cosmetic updates were made across the company’s domestic parks.

Disney also upgraded its guest technology, a fixture of Disney’s theme parks via rides and attractions. Mobile ordering capabilities were expanded, and the company began work on what would become a new itinerary service and a new way for parkgoers to purchase passes to skip lines for certain rides.

After parks and resorts reopened, D’Amaro oversaw the launches of new rides like Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Tron Lightcycle Run, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure as well as new themed lands like the refurbished Mickey’s Toontown in Disneyland.

International development expanded, too, with the opening of Fantasy Springs at Tokyo Disneyland and a “Zootopia”-themed land at Shanghai Disneyland.

D’Amaro was also the leader behind the growth in Disney’s cruise line, which is set to double its fleet size by 2031. Three new ships have already set sail, with a fourth on the way in April.

Over in consumer products, D’Amaro pushed Iger to invest $1.5 billion in Epic Games, giving Disney a digital playground within the company’s online game Fortnite. This space is particularly important to attract a younger demographic that has become harder and harder for companies to reach.

D’Amaro’s got experience outside of the division, too. As Disney has infused more of its film franchises into its theme parks, cruises and hotels, he’s partnered with the company’s studio heads. Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Animation and more have become intermingled with D’Amaro’s division.

“Josh is actually deep in the IP,” Gorman said. “He has worked with a number of the producers of the IP in adding new attractions, new rides, to parks all over the world. And he’s been critical working with Bob on this new development, very exciting development in Abu Dhabi, [United Arab Emirates]. So Josh definitely has his street cred in that regard.”

Where D’Amaro will face a learning curve in taking over as CEO is in Disney’s streaming and linear television business.

Years of industrywide cord-cutting and a decline in advertising revenue has weighed heavily on all players in the media space, including Disney.

While traditional TV remains profitable, streaming has become the focus for media companies looking to recapture those subscribers and keep their content front and center.

While Disney’s flagship streaming service, Disney+, initially gained subscribers at a fast clip, the company has more recently turned to other initiatives like bundling its streaming services, offering a cheaper, ad-supported tier and cracking down on password sharing in an effort to combat slowing growth.

When Iger returned to the helm of Disney in late 2022, building up streaming — Disney+, as well as Hulu and ESPN — remained a priority.

On Monday Disney reported quarterly revenue for its entertainment segment, which includes streaming and theatrical releases, of $11.61 billion, up 7% year over year. However, it was the first quarter that Disney didn’t report streaming subscriber numbers.

Maintaining the stability of Disney’s streaming future will be a key focus for the company’s next CEO.

“Looking back just a few years when our movie business was suffering from Covid and the streaming business was obviously not in an acceptable place, it’s clear that the future of both of those businesses, or let’s call it our entertainment business, is also bright and it’s going to grow,” Iger said on the company’s earnings call Monday.

D’Amaro will also contend with the legacy of his predecessor. The last time Iger stepped away from the company, he returned less than two years later to right the ship.

— CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.