Nelson Peltz Says Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro Was Chosen Because Bob Iger ‘Needs a Reason to Stay On’

Activist investor Nelson Peltz took aim at Disney CEO Bob Iger after the company revealed he would be succeeded by Experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro.

Peltz notably launched two separate proxy fights against Iger while he was CEO in an effort to obtain seats on Disney’s board — both of which ended up failing. During the second proxy battle, one of the key issues Peltz targeted was the Disney board’s struggles with CEO succession after Iger’s previous successor-turned-predecessor Bob Chapek was ousted.

“I didn’t think there was any choice, because Iger needs a reason to stay on,” the Trian Fund Management CEO told The Wall Street Journal when asked about the Disney board selecting D’Amaro. “If he put the person in charge of entertainment as the CEO, he wouldn’t have an excuse to stay on.”

Iger, whose contract is set to expire at the end of 2026, will transition into the role of senior advisor and remain a board member, subject to the vote at Disney’s annual meeting on March 18. He will step down from the executive committee of the board after the annual meeting. 

Peltz predicted that Iger will eventually put out a statement saying D’Amaro “doesn’t know anything about the movie business … therefore, I’m going to stay on and guide him.”

“Watch that post. Okay, see if I’m wrong,” he concluded.

A Disney spokesperson did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment on Peltz’s remarks.

The latest search for a successor was led by Disney board chairman James Gorman, who successfully led his own succession process after an 18-year run as Morgan Stanley’s CEO, as well as board directors Mary Barra, Jeremy Darroch and Calvin McDonald.

In addition to D’Amaro, other internal candidates under consideration included Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro. Along with D’Amaro’s promotion, Walden was upped to president and chief creative officer.

“What impressed us about Josh is he’d obviously had great experience running a huge part of the company. I would put that in the necessary but not sufficient bucket. Some people interpret that as, ‘all that matters is parks,’ but that’s ridiculous,” Gorman told TheWrap in an interview on Tuesday. “You want somebody who has run a related business to what you do. You’ve got to be fit for the kind of business that you’re running and he demonstrated that. But he also demonstrated an innate curiosity about all the changes taking place in gaming, in AI, in studio production.”

He added that D’Amaro “really understands the importance of storytelling and IP,” touting the expansion of Disney’s theme parks across the globe, including its plans to open a new theme park in Abu Dhabi, and said that he has a “tremendous respect for Hollywood and the movie industry and talent.”

“You want personal resilience. You want decision making ability. You want good personal values. So he checks a lot of boxes. Now he’s got to learn how to be CEO,” Gorman continued. “But, honestly, he’s a polymath in abilities would be the way I describe it and I think the board was super impressed by that.”

As for Walden, Gorman praised her creative instincts, decision-making and connections across the entertainment industry.

“Dana’s a power and I think she’ll be enormously helpful to Josh,” Gorman said. “Every CEO needs a team that works well with them. When I was CEO [at Morgan Stanley], I had presidents to work with me and give me some leverage and help supplement some of the areas I knew less well and give time to grow into them. She’s going to be great. The essence of Disney is making magical experiences and we want to focus on that across the whole of the company, bringing the best of our creative talent to the whole company, so that’s why she was given that broader role.”

Disney stock, which closed down 0.22% at $104.22 as of Tuesday’s close, has fallen 8.6% in the past month, 12.6% in the past six months, 8.5% in the past year and 43% in the past five years.

“The stock’s cheap, it’s trading 15 times earnings,” Gorman said. “There is unlimited opportunity at this company. We have unbelievably good buzz.”

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