Disney Succession Takes A Positive Turn
If you are a dedicated Pax Romana Capital reader, you know that I have a violently passionate love-hate relationship with Disney. If the key to good investing is staying unemotional and cold to your holdings, then I am the worst investor of all time. I feel my investments deeply, and Disney is the best example of that emotion. I have had this company for close to five years now, it was my first buy, and I have felt the full range of emotions on Disney. I used to say that I would only sell when Bob Iger left, but I fear that I am drawing closer to going back on that, as Iger’s retirement date draws nigh, especially as Disney continues to make logically sound decisions in terms of planning succession.
James Gorman was the CEO of Morgan Stanley, but he retired and passed on the baton to Ted Pick. This transition was incredibly smooth, and honestly, you could not ask for a better transition. It was so good that Ted Pick got a hype video from my favorite Twitter account (High Yield Harry). Throughout his tenure, Gorman took Morgan Stanley from the brink of disaster back to the promised land of financial domination and success. In short, James Gorman was an extremely good CEO at Morgan Stanley, and I was pleased when Disney appointed him to their board earlier this year. I am now even more pleased after he was made the chairman of Disney’s board and tasked with finding a successor with Bob Iger.
I cannot think of a person I would otherwise want to lead a transition from one CEO to the next. Nelson Peltz, scum, was right in a few ways when he said that the Disney board has historically been too close to Bob Iger. They probably have given him too much of a leash, especially when it comes to succession. There is a hard deadline for the end of Bob Iger’s turnaround, the end of his contract in late 2026. I believe the Disney board will announce the next CEO by early or mid-2026, after an extensive (not really) external search and an intense look at the main four internal (more like two) candidates at Disney.
The four candidates are Jimmy Pitaro, head of ESPN (no chance), Alan Bergman, co-chair of Disney’s entertainment division (not happening), Josh D’amaro, head of the parks (I have beef with him, but he unfortunately has an okay chance), and Dana Walden, the other co-chair of Disney’s entertainment division (pretty good chance). Jimmy and Alan are just there, as explicitly and implicitly stated by the company, to provide the illusion of choice. You do not want to have just two candidates because that can become very explosive and violent, quickly, so the leadership has tossed in Jim and Al for kicks.
I would much prefer Walden, as opposed to Josh. Josh’s primary accomplishment has been jacking up prices for the parks as high as they can get, throwing in an infinite amount of ways to squeeze a few extra pennies out of consumers, and being super corny. This guy is so cheesy, he does not have it, and just looking at his face makes me want to drive my car into a wall. Every word I type about him makes me more angry. To me, it is ludicrous and lazy to believe that he has a chance at leading Disney’s massive portfolio. Sure, he is decent at parks (maybe), but I do not believe he has the ability to lead Disney’s other divisions with any skill.
Dana Walden, on the other hand, has guided Disney+ to relative success, has learned how to handle a majority of Disney’s portfolio, and her face is not as annoying as Josh's. Also, frankly, I think it will take her a much shorter period of time to learn how to run the parks than it would for Josh to learn the whole of show business.
Dana Walden is the clear answer, I think James Gorman will see her to be the clear answer, and I will kill myself/sell my Disney stock if Josh “stupid face” D’Amaro is appointed.
