Donald Trump Praises Marvel Ex-Chairman Ike Perlmutter for Getting ‘Out of Disney’: ‘He Didn’t Want Woke Donald Duck’Sotiris wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2024 6:53 amPerlmutter Sells Entire Disney Stake After Proxy Fight Loss
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Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/busin ... 236236327/There are many qualities that will be required to become the next CEO of the Walt Disney Co. Boldness. Intelligence. Poise. But at a recent off-site corporate retreat, Disney’s current leader, Bob Iger, offered another piece of advice for a top-level executive: “You need to be more selfish.” What Iger meant, according to the source who relayed the comment, was that the execs vying to succeed him must be willing to go to extraordinary lengths to beat out their competitors. It might seem like odd advice coming from a leader with a public image as a smooth strategist whose roughest edge is that he works so hard, he showers in his office (sometimes twice). But as Iger himself has noted, when he ran ABC in the early 1990s, he employed what he called “soft autocracy” to push through ideas that met resistance. More recently, after hand-selecting Bob Chapek as his successor back in 2020, he reportedly spent the next two years undermining and outmaneuvering his successor behind the scenes, setting the stage for his own triumphant comeback. When it comes to advice about taking power, the man clearly knows what he’s talking about. (Disney firmly denies the executive’s account of the conversation. “That is not something Bob said, or would ever say, and the incident described simply never happened,” says Chief Communication Officer Kristina Schake.)
Sources say that D’Amaro — the parks and experiences chief — is now in pole position. The 54-year-old already was overseeing a $60 billion expansion of the parks business before Abu Dhabi — Disney’s first new park since 2016 — was announced in May. He also is overseeing Disney’s expansion into video games via a billion-dollar deal with Epic (the maker of Fortnite), which Iger views as a legacy project. One hurdle for D’Amaro is the continuing fallout from Chapek’s disastrous run. Before his ascension, he also was the parks guy, and that showed in his inability to communicate with top Hollywood talent and their gatekeepers. D’Amaro has publicly tried to highlight the personal relationships he has with creatives to try to preempt that criticism.
By contrast, Walden, the longtime television executive who has been rumored as a potential frontrunner since Iger returned, is a popular well-known figure within Hollywood’s talent community. As Disney’s first female CEO, her appointment also would carry major symbolic weight. One impediment for Walden, however, is her close friendship with Kamala Harris (which had been a boon just a few years ago). Given the vindictiveness of the Trump administration, it’s hard not to see the relationship as a potential liability, unfair as that may be.
Rounding out the shortlist of top internal candidates are Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, and ESPN honcho Jimmy Pitaro. The 58-year-old Bergman is a company man, having joined back in 1996, and is regarded as sharp and skilled at overseeing a portfolio that includes Marvel, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation and Lucasfilm. But replacing Iger — an unmatched brand ambassador who looks like talent — probably requires a magnetism that Bergman can’t match (a liability he’s said to be aware of).
My impact.Sotiris wrote: ↑Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:31 am Disney’s Boy Trouble: Studio Seeks Original IP to Win Back Gen-Z Men Amid Marvel, Lucasfilm Struggles
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