Disney will name Bob Iger's replacement as early as 2026; James Gorman will be chairman of the board next year

Disney James Gorman has been tapped to replace Mark Parker as the company's next chairman, effective in January, as the media giant prepares to name a successor to CEO Bob Iger as early as 2026, the company said Monday.

Gorman joined Disney's board less than a year ago and was named head of the succession planning committee in August. He will lead that committee after taking over as chairman of the board from Nike Executive Chairman Parker.

“The Disney board has benefited greatly from James Gorman's expertise and guidance, and we are fortunate to have him as our next chairman — especially as we move forward with the board succession process,” Iger said in a statement. “I am extremely grateful to Mark Parker for his many years of board service and leadership, which have been invaluable to this company and its shareholders, and to me as CEO.”

Parker will step down after nine years on the Disney board to “focus on other areas” of his work, according to a Disney statement. This includes spending more time working Nike– Related matter, according to a person familiar with the matter. Elliott Hill took over as CEO of Nike last week, replacing John Donahoe.

Disney initially targeted 2025 to announce a successor, as CNBC reported last year. Pushing the date to early 2026 would give the board more time to do due diligence on both internal and external candidates, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.

Gorman has experience with succession planning: He oversaw an orderly transfer of power at Morgan Stanley, where Ted Peake succeeded him as CEO earlier this year.

Succession at Disney was not smooth. The board fired Iger's handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, in November 2022 after a tumultuous tenure of less than three years. Iger is back in the CEO job, and now, Disney shareholders are eager to see the succession plan stick.

Four of Iger's direct reports — ESPN chairman Jimmy Pietro, Disney Experience chairman Josh D'Maro, and Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman — have interviewed with the succession committee in recent weeks, as Gorman has known since he took over in August.

Before taking over as the successor chair of the board, Gorman said in a CNBC interview in March that Disney was running a “visionary, forward-looking, incredibly disciplined process.”

Still, having a specific timeline for naming a successor adds some clarity to the search, meaning the question of who will take over for Iger will hang over the company for another year.

Iger postponed his retirement five different times to continue leading Disney as CEO. Activist investor Nelson Peltz focused on the board's failure to name a permanent successor in his failed campaign to win a board seat earlier this year.

Iger's current contract as CEO runs through December 31, 2026. He and the board have not decided whether Iger will extend his board term beyond 2026, people familiar with the matter said.