Key Points

Walt Disney plans to announce CEO Bob Iger's successor in early 2026. Walt Disney executives Dana Walden and Josh D'Amaro are both leading candidates for the position. Walt Disney's board may choose to appoint Walden and D'Amaro as co-CEOs, but the company's corporate culture and troubled succession history may make this arrangement difficult to optimize.

Dana Walden (left) and Josh D'Amaro (right)

As 2025 enters its final months, Walt Disney is getting closer to announcing the news the entire entertainment industry has been eagerly awaiting—who will succeed Bob Iger as the company's next CEO.

Walt Disney has publicly stated it will determine Iger's successor in early 2026. Two internal candidates are most likely to emerge: Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden and Disney Experiences chair Josh D'Amaro. Walden has decades of Hollywood experience, while D'Amaro previously worked in the consumer products division before gradually rising through the theme parks division, taking over theme park management in 2020 when Bob Chapek was appointed as Walt Disney CEO.

Given that Walden and D'Amaro's skill sets are complementary, and the recent trend in media and other industries toward appointing co-CEOs, Walt Disney's board might choose to have them jointly succeed Iger.

Competitor Netflix has employed a similar strategy since 2020 with significant success—when Reed Hastings appointed Ted Sarandos as co-CEO. Three years later, Hastings stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman while promoting Greg Peters to fill his vacancy, serving as co-CEO alongside Sarandos.

Netflix's success has driven the recent emergence of a "co-CEO wave." Last month, Spotify appointed Alex Norstrom and Gustav Soderstrom as co-CEOs to succeed founder Daniel Ek; Oracle appointed Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia to jointly lead the company; and Comcast appointed President Mike Cavanagh to serve as co-CEO alongside longtime CEO Brian Roberts.

However, despite the co-CEO structure appearing reasonable for Walt Disney on the surface, company insiders and corporate governance experts warn that the "House of Mickey" has unique factors that could make this structure an unwise choice.

Netflix's Strategy

Last year, Iger called Sarandos to inquire about Netflix's co-CEO model. The Wall Street Journal first reported this call in November last year, and sources familiar with the matter have confirmed to CNBC that the call did occur.

According to anonymous sources familiar with Netflix's leadership style (due to undisclosed details), Sarandos and co-CEO Peters each have focus areas, allowing them to make decisions without interfering with each other. If Sarandos and Peters disagree on something, they resolve it by "letting the person who cares more about that area make the call." Typically, if it involves content or creative decisions, Sarandos has final authority; if the decision leans more toward product or technology, Peters takes the lead. A Netflix spokesperson declined to comment.

In gray areas, the co-CEOs can always turn to Hastings—the company co-founder who served as CEO for 25 years. Sources indicate that Sarandos told Iger that Peters and Sarandos worked under Hastings for many years, and this level of understanding, combined with Netflix's famous "no hierarchy" corporate culture, helps maintain the co-CEO structure without triggering power struggles while creating value for shareholders.

Since Peters became co-CEO in January 2023, Netflix's stock has risen approximately 275%.

Walt Disney's Options

At first glance, the combination of Walden and D'Amaro resembles Sarandos and Peters: Walden excels in Hollywood content, while D'Amaro is skilled in theme parks and consumer products. Theoretically, Iger could transition to executive chairman, continuing with the company in a role similar to Hastings.

Appointing Walden and D'Amaro as joint successors to the highly anticipated Iger role might allow Walt Disney to retain both key executives. If the board chooses only one, Walt Disney might risk losing the other executive—who might seek CEO opportunities at other companies. Walt Disney experienced this in 2020 when streaming business head Kevin Mayer left to become TikTok CEO after failing to succeed Chapek.

But Walt Disney's co-CEO arrangement has "red flag signals" that other companies don't face.

First, if Iger remains on the board, some employees and external partners might still view him as the actual CEO, potentially undermining the power-sharing structure of the two co-CEOs—especially considering Iger's reputation for "wanting to maintain the company's top leadership position."

After stepping down as CEO, Hastings turned his attention to personal interests like skiing, while Iger is known for "reluctance to easily leave Walt Disney's top management." He postponed retirement five times to remain CEO and returned to replace Chapek after handpicking Chapek as his successor in 2022.

Second, during Chapek's tenure, Iger didn't immediately relinquish all operational responsibilities, choosing instead to lead the company's "creative affairs" for over a year. As CNBC reported in detail in 2023, this led to an ugly power struggle between Iger and Chapek. Even though Walden and D'Amaro have strengths in different areas, choosing a co-CEO model after recently experiencing "blurred power boundaries" might show failure to learn from past mistakes.

Third, Walden and D'Amaro's working relationship is far shorter than Peters and Sarandos (or other long-term successful joint leadership combinations, such as Creative Artists Agency's Brian Lourd, Richard Lovett, and Kevin Huvane co-chair structure). Walden previously managed Fox's television division as co-chair with Gary Newman for years, indicating her ability to succeed in joint structures, but it's unclear whether she's willing to return to a "partnership work" model.

Fourth, Walt Disney's corporate culture is known for being "highly political." During Iger's and former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner's tenures, the company experienced multiple troubled succession processes. Netflix has been largely unaffected by merger activity, while Walt Disney has integrated numerous business divisions through multiple acquisitions over the years, including ABC, ESPN, Fox, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. This brings together employees from different cultural backgrounds rather than forming unified corporate values from inception.

"This won't work for Walt Disney," a senior media executive told CNBC privately, "There will definitely be lots of infighting—Walt Disney always has been that way."

A Walt Disney spokesperson declined to comment.

Netflix Model vs. Traditional Concepts

Beyond this, traditional corporate governance experts generally believe co-CEO structures aren't optimal choices.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month, citing data from corporate research firm Equilar, that among Russell 3000 Index component companies in recent years, approximately 1.2% have adopted co-CEO structures at any given time.

"Having two power centers in an organization is never good," said Charles Elson, founder of the University of Delaware's Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, in an interview. "Two people sharing power means nobody really has power."

However, Elson noted mitigating factors that can make co-CEO structures more acceptable. For Netflix, Hastings serving as executive chairman might be crucial because he can act as a "de facto tiebreaker" in the co-CEO structure.

Elson said co-CEO structures might work if they're clearly for longer-term succession planning, such as Comcast's decision to appoint Cavanagh and Roberts as co-CEOs.

Elson noted that at critical moments, Hastings and Roberts can make final decisions on major issues. Roberts is Comcast's controlling shareholder, and Oracle is similar—co-founder Larry Ellison is the company's controlling shareholder.

Although Iger could serve as executive chairman to play a "tiebreaking" role for Walt Disney, he's not the company founder and holds less than 1% of outstanding shares. Elson noted this means Iger has lower "vested interest" in Walt Disney's future development compared to people like Roberts or Ellison.

Elson said for Walt Disney's board, appointing only one CEO might require "taking a gamble," but it's better than creating instability.

"Eventually there will inevitably be one CEO dominating and the other leaving," he said. "That's human nature."