Newly named Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro is a hospitality guru who has modelled himself so closely after longtime chief Bob Iger that he even dresses like him, insiders told The Post on Tuesday.
A host of challenges await D’Amaro when he becomes head of the House of Mouse on March 18, ranging from lower international tourism to increased competition to movies.
But sources said the 54-year-old who’s been running Disney’s parks and cruises is a “people person” who plays well with others, giving him the mentality to weather future storms.
“He dresses exactly like Iger. Sweaters, collared shirts,” a Disney source said. “He’s a good guy, well liked. Iger likes to note how much ‘charisma’ Josh has.”
D’Amaro, whom Disney announced as its next CEO on Tuesday, is the opposite of Bob Chapek, Iger’s last handpicked successor, sources said.
Chapek, also a former theme parks chief, was known as stubborn, gruff and unpolished, they said. He didn’t work well with Iger, who stepped down after a 15-year run as CEO in 2020 and stayed on for Chapek’s transition — only to come back as chief exec after Chapek’s tenure didn’t work out.
Chapek lasted in the top job just two years. The stretch was marked by a blow up with Hollywood A-lister Scarlett Johansson over a contract dispute, sky-high theme park pricing, an expensive “Star Wars”-themed hotel that shuttered two years after opening and a battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that cost the company its special tax district, Reedy Creek.
Iger will remain on Disney’s board and serve as a senior adviser until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2026, Disney said Tuesday.
“Josh will manage the relationship with Iger much better than Chapek, who failed miserably in keeping Iger on the same side,” a source noted, adding that D’Amaro has a “Teflon”-quality for missteps that Chapek lacked.
“Everything stuck to Chapek. Josh is much smoother and more like Iger,” another source said.
A former sculptor who studied art at Skidmore College before transferring to Georgetown University to study marketing, D’Amaro is considered a shrewd businessman.
After graduating, he took a finance job at Gillette, then applied for a strategy job at Disney in 1998. He was soon focusing on theme park marketing campaigns and eventually moved to China to help resuscitate Hong Kong Disneyland’s business. A few years later, he worked with movie director James Cameron to add “Avatar”-themed rides to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
When Chapek was elevated to CEO in 2020, D’Amaro became chief of the company’s “experiences” division — right during the COVID pandemic. The outbreak put a chokehold on Disney’s theme park and cruise business, but gave D’Amaro a crash-course on handling disaster.
Disney’s business has since returned to growth, and D’Amaro has sought to keep expanding the theme parks and cruise division. The biggest part of the Disney business, it brings in $36 billion in annual revenue.
Under both Chapek and Iger, D’Amaro has relied on raising theme park pricing to juice profitability — much to the dismay of cash-strapped families.
The average cost of a single-day ticket to Walt Disney World climbed 5% per year from 2014 to 2024, outpacing inflation, according to CNBC.
A single-day ticket at Disney World can cost $199 nowadays, with the price around $104 at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. The cost of food, parking and souvenirs have also gone way up, raising concerns that a Disney vacation has become too expensive for the average family.
Disney reported better-than-expected first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.63 on revenue of $25.98 billion on Monday. D’Amaro’s unit logged more than $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time — though that momentum is expected to slow down as fewer international tourists are expected to visit US attractions.
Last year, international tourism to the US declined eight straight months, according to National Travel and Tourism Office data cited by Business Insider.
Still, D’Amaro has been looking for ways to expand Disney’s theme parks and cruises. He was credited for an ambitious $60 billion expansion of the parks and cruise lines and is laying the groundwork for a new resort in Abu Dhabi, the Disney’s first outpost in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the company’s entertainment business is still grappling with the ongoing move away from movie theaters and linear TV to streaming, plus potential disruptions stemming from artificial intelligence.
Aside from shifting to costly digital platforms, D’Amaro must find ways to rejuvenate major — but tired — franchises from Marvel that have been underperforming at the box office in recent years.
Before being tapped as CEO, D’Amaro was already leading the effort to grow Disney’s presence in video games, in part through a $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games for a Fortnite project.
He previously said he wants to give video games “a bigger role at the company.” The Wall Street Journal reported in December that he is looking to integrate “gaming technology” into Disney’s creative processes.
“We envision this as a world or a universe that I think can be important not only to (the game) space, but to the Walt Disney Company,” the exec said in a 2024 interview with Reuters on his vision for how gaming can bring in new revenues.
Even so, media insiders say D’Amaro is going to need a “vision” to bring the company into the next era of growth.
“It’s unclear whether he has the vision of strategy to manage the downs and ups,” a former Disney exec said. “But people are rooting for him.”
The Post has sought comment from Disney.
