Executives Predict Who Will Take Over for Bob Iger as CEO of The Walt Disney Company

When Bob Iger returned to The Walt Disney Company in November 2022, he did so with a few specific goals in mind.

Iger knew he wouldn’t be back for good, but that left him with an important decision to make — choosing who would take over as his successor. Several names have been thrown into the ring and we’ve even taken a swing at predicting, but now, media executives are getting in on the fun.

Since Bob Iger returned to Disney, we’ve been wondering who the second-time CEO would choose as his successor. We learned this search was a “top priority” for Iger — at least, it appeared to be until Iger extended his contract to 2026. But, as 2023 comes to an end, executives are making predictions for 2024 — and Iger’s successor is a hot topic.

CNBC spoke with 13 former and current media, sports, and entertainment executives to get their predictions on what sort of shake-ups the industry could see in 2024, and a few of them have Iger’s successor on the mind. The executives questioned remained anonymous, but that doesn’t mean what they have to say is any less interesting!

Iger will extend his contract

The first major Iger-related prediction is that the CEO will end up extended his contract again — past the 2026 timeline he’s currently facing. Iger did say he plans on walking away from Disney “forever” once this contract is up, but we’ve seen that song and dance from him before.

Iger has extended his CEO contract to avoid retiring five different times, and when he left in 2021 — he said that was for good, too.

The executive who predicted this said, “fool me five times, shame on me.” With Disney’s looming strategic problems like figuring out how ESPN fits into a direct-to-consumer market, the company needs “a leader with a steady hand who understands the industry.” According to this executive, that’s Iger. He’s been chosen by Disney’s board time and again, so it stands to reason that this time wouldn’t be too different.

Dana Walden will be named the next Disney CEO

Assuming Iger does leave at the end of his contract, the Disney board will, of course, need to name a successor. It was reported back in September that Iger will likely name the next CEO in early 2025, giving that person almost two full years to prepare for taking over the role. One executive predicted an announcement could come in late 2024 — and they think Iger will name Dana Walden to the job.

Walden currently serves as co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, but if she becomes CEO, this executive thinks Iger will move back into a chairman role as he did when Bob Chapek took over in 2020.

Disney will buy Candle Media and Kevin Mayer will become CEO

If Kevin Mayer sounds familiar — it’s because this one-time Disney executive has already been tapped as a potential Iger successor. Before he left Disney, Mayer served as the Chairman of the Direct-to-Consumer and International segment. He had helped oversee the launch of Disney+ and ESPN+. But in May 2020, that role shifted to being under the control of Rebecca Campbell and Mayer stepped down. He then became CEO of TikTok and is currently CEO of privately held Candle Media.

We later learned that Mayer was recently brought on to help “advise on the future of Disney’s legacy TV businesses.”

In this final Disney succession prediction, this executive thinks Disney could purchase Candle Media and thus Moonbug Entertainment (who co-own CoComelon). Disney could then sell the remaining Candle assets, and bring Mayer back to Disney in a senior operating role — eventually positioning himself as Iger’s successor.