BREAKINGVIEWS-Disney apprentice leans on James Gorman’s sorcery

By Jeffrey Goldfarb

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Walt Disney's DIS.N original corporate adaptation of its renowned cartoon "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was a flop. A more polished version, which puts theme-parks chief Josh D'Amaro into the starring CEO role under the direction of Chairman James Gorman, is more suitable for boardroom viewing.

In a segment from the animated 1940 film "Fantasia," wizardry pupil Mickey Mouse tries to replicate his master's tricks to disastrous effect, forcing the experienced magician to come back and clean up the mess. So it was for Bob Iger's hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek, in 2020. A series of strategic missteps prompted Disney to put Iger back in charge less than three years later.

He tidied up the $180 billion entertainment empire, slashing costs, investing in theme parks and making streaming profitable. All that financial conjuring essentially did, however, was simply halt decline. Disney's shares during Iger's second stint have delivered just a 16% return, including reinvested dividends, outpacing rival Comcast's CMCSA.O approximately 3% over the same span but badly lagging the 84% generated by the S&P 500 Index .SPX.

From here, Disney's fate and Iger's legacy are tethered to the dark arts of leadership handovers. D'Amaro is another longtime apprentice, with nearly three decades of service inside the Magic Kingdom. He has a slew of challenges ahead, from grappling with the impact of artificial intelligence on creative industries to sorting out the future of flagging broadcast TV networks and the powerful ESPN sports brand.

Whatever happens, some of the glory, and potential blame, will be ceded to Gorman. As chairman, he led the methodical search for Iger's replacement this time, trying to once again cast the fiendishly difficult spell he worked at Morgan Stanley MS.N. There, he managed to appease a range of stakeholders with his replacement while also convincing the runners-up to stick around and help. Since Ted Pick was unveiled as the bank’s CEO in October 2023, the financial goliath's stock price has more than doubled.

The Wall Street alchemy may work in Hollywood, too. Disney appointed Dana Walden, who was seen as a contender for the top job, as chief creative officer and president. Iger's "mentorship" gets three mentions in the management shakeup announcement. Where succession planning is concerned, however, he was a mere apprentice, and many of his experienced C-suite counterparts elsewhere have just as much to learn.

Follow Jeffrey Goldfarb on X and Linkedin.

CONTEXT NEWS

Walt Disney said on February 3 that Josh D’Amaro, a longtime company veteran who now oversees theme parks, would become CEO, succeeding Robert Iger at the media conglomerate’s annual shareholder meeting on March 18.

Dana Walden, co-chief of the entertainment division, will become chief content officer and president.

The succession plan was led by former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, who became Disney’s chairman in 2024.