Major shakeup at Disney: Board chair is out. New CEO is coming soon

By David Goldman, CNN

(CNN) — Disney is about to have its fourth board chair in just over three years, as the company continues to navigate ongoing tumult in the media industry.

Chairman Mark Parker will step down at the end of the year, the company announced Monday. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman will replace Parker starting in 2025.

“I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve as Disney’s chairman at this important moment in the company’s history,” Gorman said in a statement.

Parker, a board member for nine years, just stepped into the chairmanship role last year, replacing Susan Arnold, who held the role for just over a year until her term expired. Arnold had served on Disney’s board for a decade and a half.

Among the decisions Gorman will be tasked with: replacing Bob Iger as CEO. The company also announced that a replacement for Iger will be named in early 2026. Iger returned as CEO last year after a brief hiatus. Gorman said Monday that choosing a new CEO is “critical,” and the announcement of the timing reflects progress in Disney’s decision to replace Iger.

Parker, when he was announced, said replacing Iger would be among his top priorities. Instead, Parker and the board quickly renewed Iger’s contract through 2026. Although Iger said he would not stay longer than two years in his latest stint at the company, the extension meant that he will serve as CEO in his second go-round at least four years.

Gorman currently serves as the chair of Disney’s succession planning committee, which is responsible for the CEO search. But that has proven difficult as Disney navigates choppy waters: The movie industry is slipping as people increasingly stream shows and films online, but Disney’s streaming business only just recently became profitable. And linear television is continuing to decline, and the future of ESPN, ABC and other stations have weighed heavily on Iger and Disney as a result.

The board and succession planning committee had heard from investors that providing more specificity to the succession process was important to them, according to a person familiar with the matter. The committee, after evaluating where they were in the process, determined that an early 2026 announcement date would provide enough time to find Iger’s successor.

Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, and Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro are all said to be in the running for the CEO position, although Disney said that the committee and board “continue to review internal candidates and external candidates.”

Meanwhile, Disney in its latest earnings report announced somewhat lackluster spending from visitors to its US parks, which the company chalked up to jitters about the economy.

The company said Gorman will prove a valuable leader to help navigate Disney through it all.

“James Gorman is an esteemed leader who has become an invaluable voice on the Disney board since joining earlier this year, and I am extremely pleased that he has agreed to assume the role of chairman upon my departure,” said Parker, in a statement. “Drawing on his vast experience, James is expertly guiding the extensive search process for a new CEO, which remains a top priority for the board.”

Replacing Iger

In announcing his seemingly always imminent departure from Disney, Iger has become the CEO who cried wolf.

Iger, in his first stint as Disney CEO, renewed his contract multiple times, bucking promises to step down – until he finally did a month before the pandemic swept the globe, shutting down the world’s businesses, including Disney. Replacing Iger in early 2020 was another Bob, Bob Chapek, whose disastrous tenure at Disney was marred by strategic missteps and PR disasters.

Chapek didn’t last three years on the job. Replacing him: Iger, who in late 2022 promised he’d step down quickly just as soon as a replacement was named.

Still, Iger has notched several wins during his recent stint: He helped negotiate a massive labor dispute with directors, actors and writers. He squashed a multi-pronged boardroom battle. And he finally made Disney+ profitable.

But Iger has made himself indispensable, turning around Disney after a dreadful past several years. The stock (DIS) has bounced back (somewhat) this year and Disney is once again the darling of the traditional media companies – even though that’s not exactly a group anyone wants to be part of, as Hollywood, streaming and television struggle to contend with TikTok, YouTube and, the biggest direct rival of them all, Netflix.

Iger now says he’s done fixing things and is focused on building the Disney of the future. But it may be premature to declare mission accomplished. On the same May day in which Disney finally announced streaming profits, the company’s stock posted its worst day in a year in a half because of its tepid outlook. Then, in August, Disney posted a strong quarter … but freaked out Wall Street when it said its park earnings were tepid.

So Iger’s work fixing Disney isn’t quite done yet.

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CNN’s Hadas Gold contributed to this report.