The “Silent Killer” That Could Solve Bob Iger’s CEO Problem at Disney

Bob Chapek is out, Bob Iger is back, and the future of Disney looks…well…a bit unclear.

Iger has only returned for a limited 2-year gig (according to his current contract and plans, anyway) and the pressure is on to find his successor. We’ve already discussed some of the folks who could step into Iger’s shoes, but what if the solution to Disney’s CEO troubles isn’t just one name…

Disney’s CEO Problem

Let’s start by talking a bit about the CEO problem Disney is facing. Chapek, unfortunately, did not work out as Iger’s successor and Iger has returned to the House of Mouse for 2 years with the task of helping the Board of Directors find a new successor.

Here’s one problem — Iger chose Chapek as his successor last time, which he reportedly regretted. So the pressure is really on this time to find a successor that’ll work out better than Chapek and stick around Disney for a longer period of time.

The Board has made it abundantly clear that one of Iger’s key tasks is to help them find whoever can fill his shoes. Iger has said, “Succession is pretty much at the top of the list between me and the Board.”

Disney’s new Chairman of the Board has shared how his top priority is finding the next CEO, and there is even a Succession Planning Committee of the Board dedicated to this task. According to Iger, the Committee has been meeting regularly and the “conversations have been great.” Iger has noted that he’s “confident that [they’ll] identify the right successor at the right time.”

Who will that successor be? A LOT have names have already been thrown out there. But perhaps the question we should be asking is not who the next CEO will be, but how many CEOs should Disney have. Can just ONE person run the Walt Disney Company successfully at this point?

Disney is unique in that they own a lot of other businesses and handle so many different things. There’s media (animated movies, live-action movies, movies that go to theaters, movies and shows that go directly to streaming, television channels, etc.), parks and experiences (theme parks, hotels, cruises, Adventures by Disney, merchandise, and more), and ESPN. Should Disney put its faith in just ONE person to oversee everything? Maybe not.

And maybe there’s a solution.

Why Just Have 1 CEO When You Can Have…2?

When you think of the CEO of a company, you likely think of just one individual overseeing things. But why just pick one? According to The Hollywood Reporter, the “marriage” of two Disney executives in their current positions “seems logical and even formidable” and it could lead to a co-CEO structure one day.

The executives in question are Dana Walden and Alan Bergman. Walden and Bergman are currently co-chairs of Disney Entertainment. Together, they oversee ALL of Disney’s entertainment media, news, and content — which includes streaming.

Walden

Walden currently leads some of Disney’s biggest brands (like Disney Branded Television, ABC News, and Hulu Originals), plus she oversees marketing, distribution, and business groups for these brands. And she has “shared oversight” over things like direct-to-consumer, technology, and ad sales groups.

Under her leadership, ABC has been the number 1 entertainment network for 3 consecutive seasons. Plus, over her past 30 years of work, Walden has overseen the development and production of successful shows like “24,” “Glee,” “American Idol,” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” among many others.

Previously, Walden served as chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, and before joining Disney she was CEO of Fox Television Group (she was at 21st Century Fox for 25 years). She has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business and has been named to serve on President Biden’s Export Council (per Deadline). Walden joined Disney in 2019 as part of the Fox acquisition.

Aside from her decades of experience, what makes Walden particularly suited to take on the CEO role? For starters, she is one of the “internal favorites” according to The Hollywood Reporter. She has a close relationship with Iger and Iger’s latest restructuring gave her “an even bigger footprint.”

She also shares a key similarity with Iger, since both made their way up in the entertainment world on the television side.

According to CNBC, Walden is also known to have a hands-on role with content creators which could really make her stand out against Chapek. Chapek was criticized for his handling of the Scarlett Johansson pay dispute. That may be why Disney will likely (according to one individual) choose a CEO that “leads with talent relationship capabilities.”

But it’s not all smooth sailing. Some have doubts about Walden as the next CEO. She didn’t have as much operational and financial control as an executive under Chapek’s Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution structure, but the changes Iger has made have given her more power. This helps remove one of the “fears” surrounding Walden that she doesn’t have “the business-side experience to be the CEO of a major public company.”

For many years, Walden has been seen as a “creative maestro” who was paired with a business executive. Her focus has been on the creative side. But the new powers she has been given could give her the business experience (or, perhaps more importantly, business title) some feel she needs.

Another potential issue is that Walden doesn’t have a lot of film experience. But since she is co-chair of Disney Entertainment, she should at least be informed of key decisions being made for Disney’s films and that may help her odds a bit.

Bergman

What about Alan Bergman? Well, he is the other co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, but his responsibilities are a bit different. While he similarly oversees Disney’s portfolio of entertainment media, Bergman’s main focus is on Disney’s filmmaking studios (including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm). 

He oversees the marketing and distribution related to these brands, and he also oversees some things related to the Disney Music Group and Disney Theatrical Group. Plus, he has shared oversight (with Walden) of direct-to-consumer, technology, and sales groups.

Bergman has been with Disney specifically longer than Walden. Bergman’s relationship with Disney goes WAY back, having joined the Company in 1996. He initially was part of the “corporate controllership group with a focus on Walt Disney Studios initiatives,” and then moved into the operations planning group.

He has served in leadership roles at The Walt Disney Studios since 2001. He was Chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 2020-2023, Co-Chairman from 2019-2020, President from 2005-2019, and was made Chief Financial Officer (of the Walt Disney Studios) in 2001.

He’s been involved in some big projects like the integration of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox film studios into Disney. And Disney has set some box office records under his leadership (including with films like Avengers Endgame and Avatar: The Way of Water). Bergman is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Television Academy.

The restructuring Iger did in 2023 is (according to the Hollywood Reporter) seen as a vote of confidence in Bergman. Bergman has kept a lower profile than Walden during his tenure at Disney but that doesn’t mean he isn’t talented. One source called him “a silent killer.”

According to CNBC, he’s another contender for the CEO position for several reasons. He has led the integration of some of Iger’s biggest assets into Disney, which may really place him on Iger’s good side. Plus, he has “rapport” with many Hollywood creatives. That is beneficial to Disney and again could be seen as a big difference when compared to Chapek.

But it’s not all positive for Bergman’s potential CEO future either. He doesn’t have experience in a lot of other divisions at Disney and instead has focused much of his career on content at the studios.

The Duo

Some have concerns about Bergman or Walden individually, so could a co-CEO partnership be the way to go? Their existing partnership as co-chairs of Disney Entertainment could support that. A rival executive noted that their partnership at Disney “definitely solidifies their power.”

They’re seen as “key” to helping Disney reach its profitability target for streaming, and if they’re successful in that arena, perhaps their path to serving as co-CEOs becomes clearer.

Is It Really a Solution, Or Just More of a Problem?

But there’s still a lot that remains to be seen. Neither Bergman nor Walden really has experience in Disney beyond the world of entertainment. Granted, streaming and reaching streaming profitability is a key focus for the Disney Company (especially given the losses Disney has had at streaming lately).

But would this duo be equipped enough to handle problems at ESPN? Perhaps it’ll just feel like another entertainment/content source, so they’ll tackle it with ease.

But what about the parks, cruise line, hotels, and that side of the business? Sure, Disney already has a Chairman of the Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products division that handles things directly and they’ll continue to do so, but should the CEO have greater knowledge in that area (considering it is the division bringing in some serious CASH for Disney at the moment)?

Perhaps, however, the experience Disney had with Bob Chapek — someone who had a wealth of parks knowledge — has left them with a desire to seek a CEO OUTSIDE of the parks world. And turning to executives with lots of media experience (similar to Iger) might be what the Board feels is the winning solution.

Aside from concerns about their experience, could the co-CEO structure really be a solution or will it only cause Disney more problems? As co-CEOs, they could disagree on key matters and make things complicated.

According to the Harvard Business Review, some theorize that having 2 CEOs can lead to trouble “in the form of conflicts, confusion, inconsistency, irresolution, and delays.” Marvin Bower reportedly warned that “Power sharing…never works.”

It is certainly more “traditional” to have 1 CEO as the head of the Company. But it’s not as though co-CEOs are unheard of. Harvard Business Review took a look at 87 companies with co-CEOs and found that those firms “tended to produce more value for shareholders than their peers did.” And that wasn’t just the result of a few exceptional companies — “Nearly 60% of the companies led by co-CEOs outperformed.” Plus, their co-CEOs remained in power for “more or less” the same amount of time as single CEOs.

That’s not to say that co-CEOs will always be a homerun. But it might be worth looking at, particularly for those companies “shifting decisively toward agile-based management and for those embarking on technology-based transformations.” Considering Disney’s quest to cut content spending, make things more streamlined, and focus on streaming, this could be a good path.

Co-CEOs can bring diverse perspectives, split up certain operations, keep each other grounded, and ensure a stable transition even if one leaves. The Harvard Business review identified 9 factors that are key to the success of co-CEOs — willing participants, complementary skill sets, clear responsibilities and decision rights, mechanisms for conflict resolution, an appearance of unity, fully shared accountability, Board support, shared values, and an exit strategy.

Could Bergman and Walden form a partnership with these key factors in their co-chairman positions that display just how well they could work as co-CEOs? It’s possible. But it’s also possible that Disney will feel their experience is too similar to be complementary or hesitate on using this structure for other reasons.

What Now?

So…what happens now? Well, much remains to be determined when it comes to Disney’s next CEO. We have seen a lot of names proposed for the position, so it’s possible neither Bergman nor Walden will ever make it to the final list of contenders.

But with Iger’s 2-year return tenure quickly passing by and the shareholder meeting on its way (April 3rd) we could get some news soon.

To learn more about the other individuals who could become CEO at Disney, see our posts below:

• Why This Fan-Favorite Disney Executive Could Be the Next CEO
• “Uniquely Qualified” — Meet the Man Who Could Be the Next Disney CEO
• Meet the “King Killer” Who Could Replace Bob Iger as Disney CEO
• “We Will See What Happens” — Could a Former Disney CEO Hopeful Return to Take Over for Bob Iger?
• 3 Ways the NBA Commissioner Is Uniquely Qualified To Be the CEO of Disney

And stay tuned for the latest updates!

Who do you think should be Disney’s next CEO? Tell us in the comments!

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