How Dana Walden could defy critics and become Disney’s first female CEO

In
1994,
a
captain
of
the
media
and
entertainment
industry
saw
something
in
Dana
Walden
that
made
him
think
she
was
capable
of
a
bigger
role.

Thirty
years
later,
that
may
happen
again.

That
first
time,
the
executive
was
Peter
Chernin,
then
president
of
20th
Century
Fox
Filmed
Entertainment
and
later
president
and
chief
operating
officer
of
Rupert
Murdoch’s News
Corp.
Chernin
plucked
Walden
from
Fox’s
corporate
communications
division
and
gave
her
a
job
in
TV.

In
2024,
the
executive
is
Bob
Iger,
Disney’s
CEO,
and
the
position
he’s
considering
Walden
for
is
that
of
his
successor,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
process.
The
appointment
would
make
Walden
the
first
female
CEO
of
the


Walt
Disney
Co.
in
its
100-year
history.

Just
a
year
into
her
early
career
at
20th
Century
Fox,
working
in
publicity,
Walden
delivered
a
presentation
at
a
company
retreat
in
Santa
Barbara,
California.
She
was
determined
to
leave
a
lasting
impression
on
Chernin,
now
chairman
and
CEO
of
investment
firm The
Chernin
Group,
after
several
encounters
in
which
he’d
never
remembered
her.

To
get
his
attention,
Walden
decided
to
be
bold.
She
told
Fox
executives,
including
Chernin,
that
they
weren’t
being
aggressive
enough
to
secure
top
talent.
Fox
needed
to
take
bigger
swings
to
generate
relationships
and
land
shows
that
could
make
it
to
syndication,
Walden
argued.
A
spokesperson
for
Walden
confirmed
the
details
of
the
presentation.

When
the
retreat
ended,
Chernin
called
Peter
Roth,
then
president
of
20th
Century
Fox
Television,
who
later
ran
Warner
Bros.’
TV
division.

“The
next
day
she
was
in
my
office,
and
we
gave
her
a
job
in
programming,”
Roth
said
in
an
interview.

That
set
Walden
on
a
career
course
correction
that’s
led
her
to
the
doorstep
of
becoming
Iger’s
successor.

Walden,
co-chair
of
Disney
Entertainment,
is
competing
internally
with
Disney
Experiences
Chairman
Josh
D’Amaro,
ESPN
Chairman
Jimmy
Pitaro,
and
Alan
Bergman,
who
is
Entertainment
co-chair
with
Walden,
to
be
named
the
next
CEO
of
Disney,
said
the
people
familiar,
who
asked
not
to
be
named
because
the
discussions
are
private.

Iger
plans
to
name
a
successor
and
then
stick
around
at
Disney
to
teach
that
person
the
job
before
departing
at
the
end
of
2026,

CNBC
reported
in
September.
He’s
fighting
to
maintain
control
of
Disney’s
future
against
a
threat
from
Trian
Partners’
Nelson
Peltz.

Peltz
has
argued
he
should

help
spearhead
a
successor
search,
considering
Iger
has
pushed
back
his
retirement
five
times
and
returned
to
the
job
after
Bob
Chapek,
named
CEO
in
2020,
was
fired
in
2022.
Peltz
has
claimed
the
Disney
board
can’t
be
trusted
to
handle
succession.
Disney
shareholders
will
vote
on
Peltz’s
candidacy
to
the
board
at
its
annual
meeting
Wednesday.

Several
executives
at
Disney
privately
told
CNBC
they
believe
Walden,
59,
is
the
favorite
to
land
the
top
job,
though
they
have
no
inside
knowledge
of
the
process,
and
their
proximity
to
Walden
may
skew
their
perception.
Her
relationship
with
Iger
(she
lives
just
blocks
from
his
house
in
Brentwood,
California),
her
track
record
of
success
as
a
TV
executive,
her
trust
among
Disney
board
members,
and
the
symbolism
about
what
it
would
mean
to
have
a
female
executive
all
work
in
her
favor.

“She’s
the
single
best
talent
exec
to
come
out
of
TV
in
the
last
20
years,”
Chernin
said
in
an
interview.

“She
would
be
an
outstanding
CEO,”
Roth
added. “Absolutely
outstanding.”

Walden
declined
to
comment
for
this
story.
More
than
20
colleagues
and
friends
spoke
with
CNBC
about
her
strengths,
faults
and
the
perceived
likelihood
she
will
take
over
for
Iger.

Allies
of
Walden’s
told
CNBC
she
won’t
even
discuss
succession
with
them
(though
many
said
they
tease
her
about
it),
choosing
to
focus
on
the
job
of
running
Disney
Entertainment
with
Bergman
that
she’s
tasked
with
today.

She
faces
stiff
competition
in
the
other
Disney
division
heads.
Walden
has
spent
the
last
three
decades
focused
on
producing
TV
hits.
She
hasn’t
had
the
same
range
of
responsibilities
as
Pitaro,
who
has
run
the
company’s
sports
media
empire
since
2018.
And
she
has
no
experience
running
parks
and
resorts,
which
Iger
and
the
board
may
decide
is
more
essential
to
Disney’s
future
than
a
TV
business
with
hazy
financial
prospects
in
the
streaming
era.

Six
former
colleagues
—
all
of
whom
worked
closely
with
Walden
—
privately
questioned
her
business
acumen
in
interviews
with
CNBC.

“There
are
people
that
are
in
creative
positions
that
rise
to
a
level
of
management
who
figure
out
what
a
P&L
[profit
and
loss]
statement
is,
what
a
balance
sheet
is,
what
quarterly
earnings
are,”
said
one
of
the
people,
who
asked
to
remain
anonymous
to
speak
candidly. “Dana
doesn’t
really
bother
with
any
of
that.”

A
second
former
coworker
said
Walden’s
profile
simply
doesn’t
translate
to
becoming
the
Disney
CEO
—
a
job
that
involves
close
investor
interaction,
geopolitical
deals
for
parks
and
resorts,
and
strategic
thinking
around
acquisition
and
investment.

“She’ll
be
eaten
up
by
real
investors,”
said
the
person,
who
likewise
requested
anonymity. “Does
she
have
the
necessary
depth
of
business
knowledge?
She
can
learn,
but
you
can’t
have
someone
teach
you
decades
of
finance,
business
and
tactics
in
a
year
or
two.”

Walden
supporters
dismissed
those
concerns
as
either
simply
incorrect
or
an
example
of
persistent
stereotypes
against
female
executives.
Walden
has
met
with
many
institutional
investors
through
her
years
at
Disney,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
matter.

“There’s
something
about
looking
at
female
execs
where
questions
are
asked
that
would
never
be
asked
of
men,”
said
Jennifer
Salke,
the
head
of
Amazon
Studios
and
a
former
colleague
of
Walden’s. “Can
they
scale?
Can
a
creative
person
be
a
business
leader?
I
find
that
to
be
a
huge
bugaboo.
She’s
in
charge
of
billions
of
dollars
of
assets,
but
she’s
not
capable
of
being
a
business
leader?”

Walden
defenders
brush
off
criticism
from
ex-Disney
colleagues
as
the
remnants
of
a
grudge
against
Fox
employees
who
came
over
as
part
of
Disney’s
$71
billion
acquisition
of
Fox’s
entertainment
assets
in
2019,
or
perhaps
as
part
of
an
ulterior
motive
to
diminish
her
CEO
prospects
in
favor
of
their
own
preferred
candidates.

“At
some
point,
everyone
running
anything
was
something
before
that,”
Chernin
said. “Anybody
they
choose
will
have
never
been
the
Disney
CEO
prior
to
that.”

Chernin
and
Walden
both
began
their
careers
in
public
relations,
making
them
two
of
a
small
club
of
TV
executives
who
started
that
way
—
former
HBO
head
Richard
Plepler
is
another
exception.
Chernin
saw
Walden’s
background
as
a
strength,
rather
than
a
weakness.

“She
knows
nothing
is
more
important
to
a
studio
than
talent
relationships,”
said
Craig
Hunegs,
who
worked
closely
with
Walden
when
he
was
president
of
Disney
TV
Studios
from
2019
to
2021.

Walden’s
entire
life
has
ties
to
Hollywood.
She
grew
up
modestly
in
Studio
City,
a
neighborhood
of
Los
Angeles,
and
attended
the
private
Westlake
School
for
Girls
(a
predecessor
of
the
coed
Harvard-Westlake
School),
where
she
became
friendly
with
Carol
Burnett’s
daughter
Carrie
Hamilton.

Walden’s
parents
made
connections
in
the
entertainment
industry
from
their
time
living
in
Las
Vegas,
where
her
mother
was
a
background
dancer
who
performed
with
George
Burns,
among
other
artists.
Her
father
became
a
member
of
The
Friars
Club,
famous
for
its

Dean
Martin
celebrity
roasts,
and
established
friendships
with
entertainers
including
Martin
and
Buddy
Hackett.
Walden
spent
her
childhood
years
with
celebrities
as
family
friends,
attending
dinner
parties
and
occasionally
celebrating
holidays
at
their
homes.
She
went
on
to
marry
a
member
of
the
entertainment
industry,
producer
Matt
Walden,
in
1995;
they
have
two
daughters,
now
in
their
20s.

After
graduating
from
the
University
of
Southern
California,
Walden
took
a
job
working
for
public
relations
firm
Bender, Goldman &
Helper,
starting
out
as
a
receptionist
and
an
assistant.
Within
four
years,
she’d
become
a
vice
president.

At
Bender,
she
represented “The
Arsenio
Hall
Show”
on
behalf
of
her
client
Paramount.
The
show
poached
Walden
to
come
work
as
head
of
marketing
for
Hall’s
production
company.
Less
than
a
year
later,
Lucie
Sulhany,
president
of
Paramount
Domestic
Television,
took
a
job
as
a
high-ranking
Fox
TV
executive.
She
asked
Walden
to
come
along
and
work
in
publicity,
and
Walden
joined
her
with
an
eye
toward
eventually
making
TV
shows.

At
Fox,
Walden
and
fellow
TV
executive
Gary
Newman
jointly
began
running
the
studio
business
—
the
engine
of
the
company
that
makes
series
both
for
itself
and
other
networks.
Starting
in
1999,
they
kept
that
position
for
the
next
15
years
until
they
were
promoted
to
run
all
of
Fox
Broadcasting
in
2014.

A
former
attorney,
Newman
began
his
partnership
with
Walden
handling
many
of
the
business
issues,
while
Walden
developed
a
reputation
for
winning
over
creative
talent
and
having
impeccable
taste
for
both
dramas
and
comedies.

“People
used
to
joke
we
were
work
spouses,”
Newman
said
in
an
interview. “She
was
very
good
at
the
job
very
quickly.
It’s
just
a
combination
of
being
smart,
being
really
fast,
being
curious,
being
fearless.”

Over
time,
Walden
mastered
the
business
side
of
TV,
according
to
Newman
and
others
who
have
worked
with
her.

“The
difference
between
Dana
in
the
beginning
of
our
partnership,
when
she
leaned
on
her
creative
background,
and
where
she
was
a
few
years
later
was
night
and
day,”
Newman
said. “She
picked
up
what
she
needed
to
pick
up
about
business.
I
had
a
surgery
at
one
point
—
the
responsibility
fell
on
Dana
to
be
in
there
for
me.
That
included
being
in
charge
of
the
business
side
of
things.”

Newman
recounted
one
difficult
negotiation
over
a
Fox-produced
show
with
CBS.
It
was
the
day
before
CBS
would
announce
its
fall
schedule,
and
it
wasn’t
clear
if
the
broadcast
network
would
pick
up
the
series.
CBS
gave
Newman
and
Walden
a
midnight
deadline
to
revise
a
deal
on
its
terms
or
it
would
cancel
the
show.
Walden
told
Newman
that
CBS
was
bluffing,
realizing
the
show
was
the
linchpin
for
other
programming
that
day.
She
persuaded
Fox
to
simply
ignore
the
deadline.
The
next
day,
CBS
included
the
series,
proving
Walden
right.

“I
don’t
know
if
she
plays
poker,
but
she’d
be
a
great
poker
player,”
Newman
said.

Fox’s
studio
began
churning
out
hits,
including “24,” “Homeland,” “How
I
Met
Your
Mother,” “The
Big
Bang
Theory,” “Two
and
a
Half
Men,” “Modern
Family,” “This
is
Us,” “New
Girl,” “Bob’s
Burgers,”
and
mini-empires
created
by
Seth
MacFarlane
(“Family
Guy,” “American
Dad,” “The
Cleveland
Show”)
and
Ryan
Murphy
(“Nip/Tuck,” “Glee,” “American
Horror
Story,” “9-1-1”).

Walden
began
making
lasting
relationships
with
TV
showrunners
and
producers
who
have
repeatedly
worked
with
her,
including
MacFarlane,
Murphy, “Modern
Family”
co-creator
Steve
Levitan
and “This
is
Us”
creator
Dan
Fogelman.
She
earned
a
reputation
for
her
creative
notes
on
scripts,
particularly
on
shaping “24,”
an
unusually
constructed
drama
that
ran
from
2001
to
2014
and
earned
critical
praise
for
its
storytelling
techniques,
according
to
Rick
Rosen,
a
partner
and
head
of
TV
of
the
talent
agency
WME
.

“People
felt
her
notes
and
constructive
criticisms
helped
move
that
show
forward,”
recounted
Rosen,
who
represented
Howard
Gordon,
at
one
time
the “24”
showrunner. “She
helped
get
it
unstuck.”

Walden’s
taste,
her
discipline
around
getting
talent
to
deliver
on
budget,
and
her
honesty
about
what’s
working
and
what
isn’t
have
set
her
apart
from
other
executives,
according
to
Levitan.

“Hollywood
is
a
business
of
relationships,”
Levitan
said. “What
you
can’t
teach
somebody
is
how
to
inspire
people.
She
is
whip
smart.
If
there
is
a
subject
that
she
needs
to
take
a
deep
dive
on,
she’s
going
to
be
an
expert
in
that
subject
before
you
know
it.”

Disney’s
acquisition
of
Fox
moved
Walden
to
a
new
company
with
a
new
culture.
Iger
called
Walden
on
the
day
of
the
deal’s
announcement
in
December
2017
to
let
her
know
he
wanted
her
to
come
to
Disney,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
matter.
Newman
planned
to
stay
at
Fox;
he
ultimately

exited
the
company
in
2018.

Walden
hoped
she’d
run
Disney’s
TV
unit
as
a
direct
report
to
Iger,
according
to
people
familiar
with
her
thinking
at
the
time.
But
Iger
wanted
Peter
Rice,
Walden’s
boss
at
Fox,
for
the
top
job.
Passed
over,
Walden
considered
walking
away
from
both
Disney
and
the
studio
she
helped
build
for
other
opportunities,
the
people
said.

Still,
she
had
a
strong
relationship
with
Rice,
who
ultimately
persuaded
her
to
stay
despite
her
disappointment.
Walden
eventually
took
Rice’s
job
when
Disney
fired
him
in
2022
after
Chapek
and
some
members
of
the
Disney
board
concluded
he
wasn’t
a
team
player,
specifically
noting
that
he’d
privately
criticized

the
company’s
messaging
around
Florida’s
controversial “Don’t
Say
Gay”
legislation,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
matter.
Chapek
told
Rice
he
wasn’t
a
culture
fit
despite
years
of
Rice
receiving
positive
feedback,
the
people
said.
A
Disney
spokesman
and
Rice
declined
to
comment.

“The
conversations
around
selling
a
series
—
licensing
fees,
profit
participation,
residuals
—
or
discussions
about
budgets,
and
how
many
guest
stars
we
can
sign,
or
which
platform
a
series
should
air
on
…
all
of
that
I’ve
done
directly
with
Dana,”
said
Rich
Appel,
the
executive
producer
and
co-showrunner
of “Family
Guy.” “No
disrespect
to
Gary
[Newman],
but
for
the
past
few
years,
it’s
only
been
Dana.”

At
Disney,
Walden
has
hit
several
home
runs,
including
FX’s “The
Bear,”
Hulu’s “The
Dropout”
and “Only
Murderers
in
the
Building,”
and
ABC’s “Abbott
Elementary.”
She
has
heavily
invested
in
marketing
children’s
show “Bluey,”
which
in
2024
has
spent
time
as

the
most-watched
show
on
all
streaming
services.
She
has
also
focused
on
building
up
Disney+’s
family
programming
with
originals
including “Percy
Jackson
and
the
Olympians,” “Spidey
and
His
Amazing
Friends”
and “Goosebumps.”

Still,
critics
say
it’s
easy
to
cherry-pick
the
successes
and
ignore
the
failures.
One
Disney
insider
said
that
grading
Walden’s
performance
honestly
would
require
a
robust
analysis
of
all
the
shows
she’s
greenlit.

The
last
time
Iger
chose
a
successor,
it
didn’t
go
well.
As

outlined
by
CNBC
in
2023,
the
relationship
between
Chapek
and
Iger,
who
remained
Disney’s
executive
chairman
until
the
end
of
2021,
fell
apart,
and
the
Disney
board
ultimately
fired
Chapek
and
brought
Iger
back
less
than
three
years
later.

Iger
returned
as
CEO
in
part
to
right
the
wrong
he
believed
he
made
by
selecting
Chapek
as
his
successor,
according
to
people
familiar
with
his
thinking.
If
he’s
looking
for
the
anti-Chapek
candidate,
Walden
fits
the
description.

Chapek
climbed
the
corporate
ladder
at
Disney
for
30
years
by
showcasing
his
business
and
finance
chops.
He
studied
microbiology
at
Indiana
University
and
got
his
MBA
from
Michigan
State
University. He
developed
expertise
in
the
minute
details
of
Disney’s
parks
and
resorts,
such
as
how
specific
hotel
discounts
could
affect
park
attendance
and
the
price
elasticity
of
seasonal
ticket
rate
adjustments.

But
he
had
almost
no
Hollywood
relationships.
Without
a
foundation
of
trust, “The
Town,”
as
Hollywood
is
known,
turned
on
Chapek.
Agents,
producers
and
showrunners
blamed
him
for
Disney’s
forceful
public
rebuke
of
A-list
star
Scarlett
Johansson
in
a
Covid
pandemic-related
contract
dispute
and
for
bungling
the
company’s
response
to “Don’t
Say
Gay,”

as
CNBC
reported
in
2023.

Walden’s
resume
sets
her
up
as
Chapek’s
inverse:
a
Disney
outsider
whose
Hollywood
ties
are
among
the
best
in
the
industry.
In
the
latter
months
of
Chapek’s
tenure
as
CEO,

as
CNBC
reported,
Disney
communications
head
Kristina
Schake
began
setting
up
meetings
for
Chapek
with
Hollywood’s
power
players
—
at
Walden’s
house.

A
potential
handover
from
Iger
to
Walden
would
also
look
very
different
from
the
Iger-Chapek
transition,
predicted
United
Talent
Agency
Vice
Chairman
Jay
Sures,
a
close
friend
of
Walden’s.
Chapek
saw
Iger
as
a
threat
to
his
power,
according
to
people
familiar
with
his
thinking
at
the
time.
Walden
would
stay
close
to
Iger
for
as
long
as
possible,
Sures
said.

“When
Bob
Chapek
got
the
job,
he
couldn’t
wait
for
Bob
Iger
to
leave.
If
Dana
ever
got
the
job,
she’s
gonna
dread
the
day
Bob
Iger
leaves,”
Sures
said. “She
values
the
skill
and
leadership
he
brings.
She
knows
a
good
thing
when
she
sees
it.”

If
Walden
were
appointed
CEO,
she
would
be
the
first
woman
to
run
the
century-old
company.
Some
close
to
Iger
say
he
would
look
fondly
on
being
the
person
to
help
break
the
glass
ceiling.

Amazon’s
Salke
said
she’s
had
several
discussions
over
the
years
with
Walden
about
how
to
survive
in
the
male-dominated
entertainment
world.
It
requires
a
deftness
of
character
and
ability
to
avoid
enemies,
said
Salke.

“I
watched ‘Barbie,'”
said
Salke,
referencing
the
Greta
Gerwig-created
hit
2023
movie
that
skewers
elements
of
modern
patriarchy. “That

speech
from
America
Ferrera’s
character
[Gloria],
it’s
true.
You
have
to
be
likable
but
not
too
likable.
If
you’re
too
likable,
that’s
seen
as
threatening
to
men.”

While
Walden
has
crossed
a
bridge
to
become
close
friends
with
a
number
of
her
professional
colleagues
(she’s
the
godmother
of
Murphy’s
children),
she
is
attuned
to
her
image
in
ways
male
executives
don’t
have
to
worry
about,
according
to
people
familiar
with
her
personality.

Even
when
the
attention
is
nonthreatening,
Walden
is
aware
that
her
appearance
may
be
judged
as
readily
as
her
business
performance,
the
people
said.

“When
I
first
met
her,
the
writers
would
see
Dana
walk
by
from
time
to
time,
and
we
used
to
call
her ‘Why
Miss
Jones,'”
Levitan
said. “Because
she’d
wear
these
glasses.
So
it
was
like
in
old
Hollywood
movies,
when
an
actress
would
take
off
her
glasses
and
one
of
the
characters
would
say, ‘Why,
Miss
Jones!
You’re
beautiful!'”

Levitan
later
became
close
friends
with
Walden
and
praised
her
professionalism.
Of
note,
he
cited
last
year’s

cancellation
of “Reboot,”
a
show
he
created
for
Hulu.

“I
don’t
agree
with
the
decision
that
was
made
there,
and
I
don’t
agree
that
it
got
a
fair
shake,”
Levitan
said. “But
Dana
and
I
talked
about
it.
She
took
me
through
her
reasons.
And
it’s
a
genuine
conversation.
There’s
a
reason
people
are
pretty
effusive
about
the
way
Dana
handles
herself.
It’s
because
she
genuinely
goes
out
of
her
way
to
treat
people
with
decency.”

Walden
and
her
team
have
a
reputation
for
sending
birthday
gifts
to
Hollywood’s
movers
and
shakers
and
bottles
of
champagne
to
them
when
their
shows
premiere.
Supporters
view
it
as
relationship-building.
Critics
said
her
actions
sometimes
border
on
corporate
largesse.

Walden
herself
has
joked
that
she
was “raised
by
wolves”
at
Fox,
and
that
she’s
had
to
consciously
adjust
to
the
more
toned-down
Disney
culture
over
the
last
five
years,
according
to
people
familiar
with
her
thinking.

She’s
also
had
to
toe
a
line
between
stereotype
and
successful
executive.
Of
the
20
people
interviewed
for
this
story,
nearly
every
one
of
them
called
Walden “direct”
and “demanding.”

“Sharp
elbows,
right?”
Salke
said,
anticipating
the
hackneyed
criticism
of
female
leaders. “So
many
times
Dana
and
I
have
been
the
only
women
in
the
room.
Can
she
be
demanding
and
hold
people
to
a
high
bar?
Yes.
But
men
come
on
in,
and
the
first
thing
they
do
is
fire
people,
and
no
one
bats
an
eye.”

Walden’s
champions
noted
that
every
successful
executive
is
demanding
of
excellence,
and
said
her
directness
is
a
major
strength
that
separates
her
from
many
other
TV
executives.

“She
can
be ‘business’
tough,”
said
WME’s
Rosen. “Nobody
likes
to
deliver
bad
news.
A
show
is
canceled,
or
it’s
over
budget,
or
this
project
didn’t
work.
But
she’s
not
harsh.
You
feel
like
she’s
coming
from
a
place
of
optimism
—
let’s
figure
out
where
we
go
from
here.”

While
the
Disney
board
will
have
the
ultimate
say
on
the
company’s
next
CEO,
Iger
will
likely
be
the
real
decision-maker,
given
his
history
at
the
company,
status
among
board
members,
and
knowledge
of
the
job.

“The
importance
of
the
succession
process
cannot
be
overstated,
and
as
the
Board
continues
to
evaluate
a
highly
qualified
slate
of
internal
and
external
candidates,
I
remain
intensely
focused
on
a
successful
transition,”
Iger

said
in
a
statement
in
2023
when
he
renewed
his
contract
as
CEO
to
the
end
of
2026.

Even
if
Iger
agrees
with
some
of
Walden’s
critics
about
whether
her
strengths
will
specifically
fit
the
top
job
at
Disney,
it’s
possible
his
recollection
of
his
own
experience
being
selected
as
CEO
in
2005
could
influence
his
decision. 

“Go
back
and
look
at
the
articles
that
were
written
about
Bob
Iger,”
Sures
said. “I
was
friends
with
Bob
then.
It
was
a
lot
of ’empty
suit’
—
a
good-looking,
tall
guy
who
never
had
any
experience
in
the
movie
business
and
never
did
anything
in
M&A
[mergers
and
acquisitions]
before
in
his
life.
Nineteen
years
later,
he’s
one
of
the
greatest,
if
not
the
greatest
CEO
the
entertainment
business
has
ever
seen.”

“The
same
things
are
being
said
about
Dana
now,”
Sures
said.

Iger
and
the
board’s
selection
for
a
successor
may
ultimately
come
down
to
the
direction
they
envision
for
Disney.

D’Amaro
could
be
the
choice
if
they
decide
the
parks
are
the
most
important
part
of
the
company’s
future.
Pitaro
seems
logical
if
ESPN
and
its

upcoming
digital
transformation
are
seen
as
an
essential
part
of
Disney’s
future,
as
opposed
to
its
past.
Either
Walden
or
Bergman
could
be
the
choice
if
creative
taste
and
relationships
trump
all,
though
Bergman’s

recent
troubles
with
Disney’s
film
division
may
be
a
knock
against
them.

Still,
Chernin
said
it’s
a
mistake
to
view
Disney
so
simply.
The
magic
of
the
company
is
how
all
the
parts
interact
with
each
other,
rather
than
emphasizing
one
unit
over
all
others,
he
said.

“The
business
is
changing
so
rapidly.
That
company
is
going
to
change
so
much,”
Chernin
said. “Someone
is
going
to
have
to
imagine
what
a
media
company
of
the
future
looks
like.
Bob
[Iger]
is
going
through
that
right
now.
He’s
actively
spending
every
day
thinking
that
through.
The
most
important
part
of
that
company
is
ongoing
relationships
with
customers.”

WATCH:
Disney
board
member
James
Gorman
talks
succession,
upcoming
annual
meeting
vote