Disney is on the hunt for someone fresh to step into Bob Iger’s shoes as CEO.
The Wall Street Journal shares that Disney is eyeing folks from outside the company, and Andrew Wilson from EA is in the mix with big names like Dana Walden, Josh D’Amaro, Jimmy Pitaro, and Alan Bergman. Disney’s been pals with EA for ages, especially with all those Star Wars games selling millions and raking in over $3 billion. Right now, EA is busy with more Star Wars and Marvel games, such as Iron Man and Black Panther.
Since 2013, Wilson’s been leading EA, and he became the chairman in 2021. Once, in 2018, he nearly grabbed the ESPN chairman spot, but that went to Pitaro. There was even talk of Disney buying EA when Chapek was in charge. This search for Iger’s replacement is happening while there’s a lot of drama around the current CEO.
People sometimes feel Disney is too stuck on making sequels instead of new stories. Even Tatiana Maslany from She-Hulk criticized Iger for being “out of touch” during the big 2023 strikes by actors and writers.
Iger first ran Disney from 2005 to 2020, then helped Chapek out as an advisor, and made a comeback as CEO in November 2022. He’ll keep at it until his contract wraps up in 2026.
