NEW Candidate Joins List for Bob Iger’s Replacement as Disney CEO

By Lydia Storks Leave a Comment

For the past several months, we’ve been watching Disney news closely to see who could be the next leader of the company.

The Walt Disney Company headquarters in California

When Bob Iger came back to The Walt Disney Company in 2022, one of his main goals was to find a worthy successor for his role as CEO. Since then, many names have popped up as potential candidates for the role, some inside the company and some from without. But now, we can add a new candidate to the list.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the newest candidate for the role of Disney CEO is Andrew Wilson, who is currently the CEO of game company Electronic Arts. According to people familiar with the matter, Disney is using the firm Heidrick & Struggles to help vet potential external options.

©Reuters

Incoming Disney board chairman and former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman is in charge of the search for Bob Iger’s successor. These latest developments are a sign that he wants a range of candidates. We’ve seen a relatively short list of contenders for the position so far, but that list will likely lengthen before Iger’s replacement is officially named in 2026.

©The Walt Disney Company

Andrew Wilson has been involved with Disney in a few areas in recent years. In 2018, he interviewed for the top job at ESPN before it went to Jimmy Pitaro (who is also on the shortlist for CEO candidates). While Bob Chapek was Disney’s CEO, Wilson was supposedly in talks about selling Electronic Arts to Disney, but the deal never went through. There was also a failed deal that could’ve resulted in a partnership between Electronic Arts and ESPN.

©ESPN

Before Gorman was put in charge of the CEO search, the main four contenders were all Disney employees. The list still includes Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, Josh D’Amaro, and Jimmy Pitaro. We’ll be interested to see if more names are added as the search expands. 2025 will be a critical year for vetting candidates.

Josh D’Amaro at Destination D23, 2023 ©Disney

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