Who will be the next CEO of Disney?

The Walt Disney Company has a new CEO – Josh D’Amaro.

The president of Disney’s Experiences division, which includes the company’s theme parks, cruise lines, resorts and consumer products, has been named to succeed longtime CEO Bob Iger. He will be Disney’s eighth CEO in its more than 100-year history.

D’Amaro, 54, joined Disney in 1998 and has held leadership positions both domestically and internationally, including chief financial officer of Disney’s global consumer products licensing division, president of Disneyland Resort and president of Walt Disney World Resort.

His appointment to the top job once again highlights Disney’s rich history of park attendance at a time of massive growth for the division – with Disney pledging to invest $60 billion in the parks over a decade. D’Amaro beat Disney Entertainment co-chairwoman Dana Walden for the CEO job after a closely watched succession race.

Since D’Amaro took over as head of experiments in May 2020, the division’s revenue has increased nearly 40%, from $26.2 billion in fiscal 2019 to $36.2 billion in fiscal 2025.

Last year, the business unit accounted for about 40% of Disney’s total annual revenue.

Perhaps more impressive are the division’s profits: Experiments’ operating profit increased from $6.8 billion in fiscal 2019 to $10 billion in fiscal 2025, an increase of nearly 50%. As of fiscal 2022, the experiences division accounts for between 55% and 70% of Disney’s profits.

Now in his 28th year with the company, D’Amaro has a proven track record with consumers and has been instrumental in growing the experiences division since taking the helm in the early months of the Covid pandemic.

At the time, virtually every facet of the experiences segment was closed: national and international parks were closed, cruises remained in port, and hotels remained vacant. But during this shutdown, when it was safe to have workers on campus, D’Amaro got to work. Construction continued on the new Avengers-themed land at the Disneyland Resort in California, and cosmetic updates were made to the company’s national parks.

Disney has also improved its guest technology, a staple of Disney theme parks via rides and attractions. Mobile ordering capabilities were expanded, and the company began work on what would become a new route service and a new way for park visitors to purchase passes to avoid lines for certain rides.

After the parks and resorts reopened, D’Amaro oversaw the launch of new rides like Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Tron Lightcycle Run, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure as well as new themed lands like the renovated Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland.

International development also grew with the opening of Fantasy Springs at Tokyo Disneyland and a “Zootopia”-themed land at Shanghai Disneyland.

D’Amaro has also been a leader in the growth of the Disney cruise line, which is expected to double the size of its fleet by 2031. Three new ships have already set sail, with a fourth on the way in April.

In the consumer products space, D’Amaro pushed Iger to invest $1.5 billion in Epic Games, giving Disney a digital playground within the company’s online game Fortnite. This space is particularly important for attracting a younger demographic, which has become increasingly difficult for businesses to reach.

D’Amaro also has experience outside of the division. As Disney has integrated more movie franchises into its theme parks, cruises and hotels, it has partnered with the company’s studio heads. Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Animation and more have gotten involved in D’Amaro’s division.

Where D’Amaro will face a learning curve in taking over as CEO is in Disney’s streaming and linear television business.

Years of industry-wide cord-cutting and declining advertising revenue have taken a toll on everyone in the media space, including Disney.

While traditional television remains profitable, streaming has become a priority for media companies looking to win back those subscribers and keep their content top of mind.

While Disney’s flagship streaming service, Disney+, initially gained subscribers in no time, the company has recently turned to other initiatives such as bundling its streaming services, offering a cheaper ad-supported tier, and cracking down on password sharing in an effort to combat slowing growth.

When Iger returned to the helm of Disney in late 2022, the development of streaming – Disney+, as well as Hulu and ESPN – remained a priority.

On Monday, Disney reported quarterly revenue for its entertainment segment, which includes streaming and theatrical releases, of $11.61 billion, up 7% year over year. However, this was the first quarter where Disney did not release streaming subscriber numbers.

Keeping Disney’s streaming future stable will be a key priority for the company’s next CEO.

“Looking back just a few years, when our theater business was suffering from Covid and the streaming business was obviously not in an acceptable situation, it’s clear that the future of both of those industries, or let’s call it our entertainment business, is also bright and it’s going to grow,” Iger said during the company’s earnings conference call Monday.

D’Amaro will also have to deal with the legacy of his predecessor. The last time Iger left the company, he returned less than two years later to right the ship.

— CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.