Nelson Peltz is accusing Bob Iger of manipulating the Walt Disney Company’s CEO succession plan — pushing for Josh D’Amaro to succeed him — in order to retain power after he steps down from the top job.
Peltz, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of Trian Fund Management, suggested to the Wall Street Journal that Iger fought for D’Amaro, the head of parks and cruises, over entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden so he’d have a reason to stick around at the Magic Kingdom after he retires. Walden, a frontrunner for the CEO role who has deep ties to Hollywood, was elevated to the newly created position of president and chief creative officer.
“Iger needs a reason to stay on,” Peltz said. “And if he put the person in charge of entertainment as the CEO, he wouldn’t have an excuse to stay on.”
Peltz is alluding to the Disney’s prior succession plan, which crumbled after Iger handed the CEO baton to former parks chief Bob Chapek in early 2020. Weeks later, the pandemic plunged Disney — and much of the world — into crisis. Iger and Chapek fought internally over the transition before the Disney board ousted Chapek in late 2022 and Iger returned as CEO.
During Chapek’s brief tenure, he clashed with Hollywood talent, including Scarlett Johansson over her payday tied to the COVID-era release of “Black Widow.”
Peltz predicts that Iger will eventually try to undermine D’Amaro and determine that “Josh doesn’t know anything about the movie business…Therefore, I’m gonna stay on and guide them.”
D’Amaro’s appointment will be effective on March 18. Iger will remain a senior adviser and member of the Disney board until his retirement from the company at the end of the year. James Gorman, chairman of Disney’s board, orchestrated the succession process. Gorman says the second transition attempt will go smoother and told Variety that D’Amaro isn’t a complete newb to the entertainment sphere.
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“He has some experience. He’s been sitting on Bob’s operating committee for several for several years. He’s participated in a number of the movie versions as they’ve gone through the various editing processes. He’s worked with directors in bringing like [James] Cameron and bringing the Avatar franchises into the park,” Gorman said on Tuesday. “It’s not like he’s come out of nowhere.”
Peltz has been a long-time adversary of Iger, having waged two high-profile proxy wars against Disney over his many gripes with the company, including its prior succession plan. Peltz alleged that Disney’s board failed to do its job the first time around by not properly vetting Chapek. After the activist investor lost his bid to win seats on the Mouse House’s board, he reportedly sold all of his Disney stock and made about $1 billion on the sale.
From Variety US