Disney chief financial officer Hugh Johnston praised the company’s board smooth and thorough work that culminated in what he considers a great result.
They “really went through an extremely thorough process … It probably went on for about a year and a half. They looked internally, externally. They really pushed hard on the candidates, and I think came to a conclusion that that is a terrific one. You have Josh, who’s a terrific growth-oriented executive. You have Dana, who’s a terrific growth-oriented executive on the creative side. And the fact that not only do we have Josh in place and looking forward to his leadership, but we have the entire team staying together is something that I think is is a little bit unusual for corporate CEO successions,” Johnston said Monday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco. It’s one of the first Wall Street confabs after the changing of the guard was announced.
The board unanimously voted to elevate Disney Experiences Chairman D’Amaro to CEO, replacling Bob Iger. Dana Walden, Disney Entertainment co-chair, was named President and Chief Creative Officer, a newly created role. The hotly anticipated appointments news was announced Feb. 3. D’Amaro will become official at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting on March 20. Iger is staying on as a senior advisor until the end of his current contract on December 31.
“Frankly, inside the company, both of those leaders have tremendous followership, and they work incredibly well together, so I think it’s going to be a fantastic combination, and we’ll have a lot of fresh eyes on on what we do,” Johnston said when asked about the reaction inside Disney. “Internally people are excited. Because both [D’Amaro and Walden] really do cut across businesses, and … have strong followership, not just within their own businesses, but more broadly. There’s a lot of energy there in terms of people being excited about Josh [but also] being excited about the fact that this process was also handled so smoothly.”
“You all know some of the history of Disney and CEO succession, going all the way back to Michael Ovitz. This couldn’t have been more different than that. It was a really smooth, well-run process with minimal drama.”
He’s referring to former CEO Michael Eisner’s hiring of uber agent Ovitz in 2004 as his no. 2 and eventual successor. But the relationship quickly soured and Ovitz was sent packing in a matter of months with a massive golden parachute payout that resulted in Disney being dragged into court by stockholders.
Iger himself, widely respected for his oversight of Disney, was more successful running the company than putting a succession plan in place. He pitted executives against each other, saw top talent defect and, in 2020, annointed Bob Chapek to a short inglorious term. Iger had to returned as CEO after the board pushed Chapek out.
More to come