Bob Iger's Successor Search: James Gorman Appointed Chair of Disney's Succession Planning Committee

Aug 22, 2024 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Posted: Thursday August 22, 2024 7:20am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Walt Disney Company has announced the appointment of James P. Gorman as the new Chair of its Succession Planning Committee. Gorman, a Disney Board member since earlier this year and Executive Chairman of Morgan Stanley, brings extensive experience in leadership transitions, having recently overseen the succession process at Morgan Stanley, where he previously served as Chairman and CEO.

Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, California

Mark Parker, Chairman of Disney's Board, commented on the appointment: "James is a highly respected leader, and we've asked him to serve as the new Chair of the Succession Planning Committee given his deep succession planning experience and long-term strategic mentality. Succession planning is a top priority of the Board, and I am eager to continue collaborating with James on the Committee as we advance the important work we have already been doing to identify and prepare the next CEO of The Walt Disney Company."

In addition to Gorman, the Succession Planning Committee includes directors Mary Barra and Calvin McDonald, both of whom bring significant experience in CEO and senior leadership succession planning for Fortune 500 companies. The Committee has been actively engaged in the process of identifying and preparing potential successors to Disney's current CEO, Bob Iger.

Background on Disney's Succession Planning

The formation of the Succession Planning Committee in January 2023 marked a significant step in Disney's approach to CEO succession, a process that became increasingly critical after Bob Iger's return as CEO in late 2022. Iger, who originally stepped down as CEO in February 2020, returned to the role following the departure of his successor, Bob Chapek, amid a period of strategic challenges and leadership turbulence within the company.

Iger's return was seen as a stabilizing move for Disney, a company he had successfully led for 15 years, during which he oversaw the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox, significantly expanding Disney's content portfolio. However, his return also came with the clear objective of setting the stage for a more permanent leadership transition.

Since his return, Iger has made it clear that his tenure is temporary, with a primary focus on guiding the company through a smooth succession process. The Succession Planning Committee, under the guidance of the Board, has been working to evaluate both internal and external candidates for the CEO role.

James Gorman's Leadership Experience

James Gorman's appointment as Chair of the Succession Planning Committee is a strategic choice given his extensive experience in leadership transitions. Gorman, who will be stepping down as Executive Chairman of Morgan Stanley in December 2024, served as the company's CEO from 2010 to 2023 and as Chairman from 2012 to 2023. His leadership was pivotal in navigating Morgan Stanley through periods of significant change and growth.

Before his tenure at Morgan Stanley, Gorman held executive roles at Merrill Lynch and was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. His deep understanding of corporate strategy and governance, combined with his recent experience in succession planning at Morgan Stanley, positions him well to lead Disney's efforts in identifying and preparing its next CEO.

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GimpYancIent5 days ago

Your analysis is correct. In the case of Disney, the CEO needs to have a feel for, understanding and establish policy for a positive effect, stimulate appeal and attract the public. The #1, primary (actually only) monetary resource for Disney to achieve the goal of maximum profits is the PUBLIC. The fans, movie goers, park guests, visitor's, tourists and merchandise collectors. Through actions (which speak louder than words) the Bob's have ensured that the most precious monetary resource (THE PUBLIC) has been squeezed, manipulated, fleeced and generally treated as mere minions to be used. Absolutely the company could be realizing greater profits than with B.I.

co100646 days ago

Obviously I don’t know the guy, but the problem I see in Iger is that he doesn’t seem to have much of a passion for the Disney brand. I completely understand that he is a CEO and his number one goal is to have the company continuously increase in profit, but with a massive brand like Disney, surely there is someone out there who absolutely loves the product and is capable of making the company money.

TsWade26 days ago

Why not? I mean, he knows Disney more then anybody. Does he?

HMF7 days ago

You really want a guy from Strategic Planning to be CEO?

JoeCamel7 days ago

I'm sure there will be a few years of transition and that opens up the possibility of mis-steps and confusion so lots of angst to come

tanc7 days ago

Staggs should have been CEO but Iger is too arrogant. Now we are stuck in a strange peril. I hope they choose wisely but I just have never seen anything impressive by Dana personally.

Lilofan7 days ago

Management responsibility of the ones when getting laid off will passed onto management who survived the layoffs and them getting more on their plate.

TalkingHead7 days ago

They laid off a prominent NBA commentator at ESPN who apparently commanded a big salary. He’ll almost certainly be scooped up by another sports-media entity given his popularity.

HauntedPirate7 days ago

The 300 "corporate" employees getting axed will, in all likelihood, be HR, IT, Finance, and other related worker bees whose departments are being "right-sized", so those remaining employees will be doing more work. Highly doubtful anyone in management will be touched.

Nubs708 days ago

Unless you are cutting off the entire limb, the leaves fall first.

Lilofan8 days ago

During the brutal layoffs nationwide in spring summer 2009, Disney had their share of layoffs including execs.

Disney Analyst8 days ago

I mean, if the point of layoffs is to trim down, save money, cut redundancies, etc. Laying off at the exec level doesn't make much sense, unless you are fully removing the team below them... or merging teams. It's less likely to see execs in a reported mass lay off. You are more likely to see an exec announced as stepping down or leaving, separately. Execs can and have been laid off, but usually to be replaced with someone else.

Lilofan8 days ago

Just merely pointing out in banking ( ie Wall Street ) there are layoffs to include senior execs.

MR.Dis8 days ago

As I said, I worked in banking for 50 years--never on Wall Street. As I stated, in 50 years NOT once was a VP or Senior Manager ever laid off- Period. Now I am sure some one some where that was a senior manager/ VP has been laid off----- just not in any company I worked for. So why the attack on such an innocent post??? Lot more weird posts to go after than one persons personal observation. Any one who has read my posts knows I worked as a mortgage underwriter. During the Mortgage Meltdown starting in 2008 thru 2017, I was personally laid off 9 times! I actually had to move temporary out of state to find a job, leaving my wife and kids so I could send them money to pay the mortgage. Not a happy time. In the end, I ended up my last 11 years with a big bank that was the best environment I ever worked.