In this articleDISFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTThe 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.[embedded content]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. [embedded content]Building up parks 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.Cynthia Randez takes a picture of her son, Apollo Leisz, 7, with Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Josh D’Amaro on Main Street U.S.A. just after the gates opened in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, April 30, 2021.Medianews Group/orange County Register Via Getty Images | Medianews Group | Getty ImagesAfter 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 …
