Walt Disney on Wednesday named board member and Morgan Stanley executive chairman James Gorman to chair its succession planning committee, which is looking for the next chief executive officer.
The board has extended CEO Bob Iger’s retirement date five times. Iger retired once and was brought back in late 2022 to replace his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek, Reuters reported.
Disney won a months-long proxy war with activist investor Nelson Peltz and is refocusing on finding Iger’s successor.
“Succession planning is a top priority of the Board,” Chairman Mark Parker said.
Gorman was Morgan Stanley’s CEO from 2010 to 2023 and will be ceding his role as executive chairman in December.
Meanwhile, an AP report added that there have been some notable successes under Iger since his return, including the first profit for Disney’s streaming service. Yet Disney has struggled to bring stability back to its parks division.
Gorman, who joined Disney’s board earlier this year, has previous succession planning experience, as he oversaw the process at Morgan Stanley.
Aside from Gorman and Parker, board members Mary Barra and Calvin McDonald will continue to serve on the succession planning committee.
Disney, which formed the succession planning committee in January 2023, said that the committee has met six times so far in fiscal 2024. The committee, along with the company’s board, are considering internal and external candidates.
MIFF premieres animated series on India’s women trailblazers
Network18 reaches 250mn TV viewers, crosses 65bn social video views: Akash Ambani
MIFF panel agrees youngsters driving documentary renaissance
At APOS, JioStar’s Chatterjee says India most demanding live sports market
JioStar’s Vaz says focus is on creating integrated consumer experiences across screens
AI-Made ‘Journey to the West’ series announced
Vipin Sharma joins Big A24, Netflix films
‘Toxic’ and ‘Mirzapur’ eye box office revival
MIFF 2026 wraps up, winners announced
Zakir Khan unveils ‘Papa Yaar’ teaser ahead of Netflix release 


