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Nothing will be more important to Disney in 2025 than the progress being made to find the next successor for Bob Iger. Hopefully, this time, Disney will get it right. While the decision is expected to be announced in early 2026, The Walt Disney Company has made some major moves to move forward with the process — and most of it revolves around James Gorman, the Executive Chairman of Morgan Stanley.
On February 5th, Gorman joined Disney’s Board. He was heralded as an expert in succession planning, as evidenced by his work at Morgan Stanley. Reportedly, he is passionate about succession planning and likely brought a new perspective to Disney’s board, which conducted a minimal and much maligned process the last time they needed to find a replacement for Bob Iger. Then in August, he was named as the Succession Planning Committee Chair. At the time, the succession planning committee had already met six times during the 2024 fiscal year and reiterated that they were looking at both internal and external candidates.
Less than two months later, Disney announced that Gorman would be succeeding Mark Parker as Chairman at the start of the new year. Parker, who was influential in bringing Bob Iger back to Disney, would be departing the Disney Board after nine years. While Parker had been cited as an example as conducting a successful succession plan at Nike, it recent times, that plan imploded with the departure of his successor John Danahoe at the sports apparel giant.
Despite “James Gorman” being a name that’s likely unknown to most Disney fans at this time, he is going to have a significant influence on The Walt Disney Company’s future. Will it pick an internal candidate? If so, which one? If it is someone external, how will the company make sure the candidate understands the dynamics of how Disney operates and what makes it special? When a successor is named, how do they ensure there isn’t a max exodus of talent as has occurred during previous transitions? While no one is perfect, Bob Iger is going to leave some very big shoes to fill. There is no obvious choice, and any choice will have a lot to learn. It is up to Gorman to lead the Board through these challenges.
Although it may be a while before we truly understand the Board’s decision and process, at some point, the whole story will come out. It will be interesting to see what work Mark Parker had done and what work Gorman will do. When details about the choosing of Bob Chapek came to light, it did not paint a great picture of the Board’s thoroughness and diligence. Gorman, who was not around for any of Disney’s CEO swaps, will hopefully do what he can to ensure the right decision is made this time. No matter what we think about who ends up getting the job, as Disney fans, we want them to be successful as that will mean more great stuff for us to enjoy.