Brands
Disney appoints Josh D’Amaro as new CEO, succeeding Bob Iger
BURBANK: The Walt Disney Company has named theme parks chief Josh D’Amaro as its next chief executive officer, marking the end of an era and the start of a carefully scripted new chapter for the entertainment giant.
D’Amaro, 54, will formally take over from Bob Iger on 18 March 2026, following Disney’s Annual Meeting. The board’s decision was unanimous, a rare show of confidence that underlines just how central D’Amaro has become to Disney’s modern story.
For the past five years, D’Amaro has run Disney Experiences, the company’s biggest business by revenue. It is the division behind the magic kingdoms, cruise ships and resorts that collectively pull in around 36 billion dollars a year and employ nearly 185,000 people worldwide. Under his watch, Disney has embarked on the largest theme park expansion in its history, pairing beloved characters with new technology and record guest satisfaction.
Disney chairman James Gorman said D’Amaro brings together creative instinct and operational muscle, a combination the board believes is vital as Disney navigates a fast-changing entertainment landscape. Bob Iger echoed that sentiment, praising D’Amaro’s ability to blend imagination with discipline, a hallmark of Disney at its best.
Alongside the CEO announcement, Disney also unveiled a new creative structure. Dana Walden, currently co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, will become president and chief creative officer, a newly created role. Reporting directly to D’Amaro, Walden will oversee storytelling across the entire company, from film and television to streaming, parks and beyond.
Creativity, Iger noted, remains Disney’s beating heart, and Walden’s appointment is designed to keep that pulse strong while aligning it more closely with business goals.
Iger himself is not disappearing just yet. After steering Disney through two decades of growth, disruption and reinvention, and returning in 2022 to steady the ship, he will stay on as senior advisor and a board member until his retirement at the end of 2026. His recent tenure has focused on restoring financial discipline, reshaping streaming, sharpening ESPN’s digital future and accelerating growth in parks and experiences.
D’Amaro, a Disney veteran of nearly 30 years, joined the company in 1998 and has held senior roles across finance, strategy, marketing and operations. He has overseen landmark attractions such as Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, Avengers Campus and World of Frozen, with more on the way including new lands inspired by Monsters, Inc., Cars and Disney Villains, plus a planned theme park in Abu Dhabi.
“I am immensely grateful for the trust placed in me,” D’Amaro said, adding that Disney’s greatest strength has always been its people and its stories.
The appointment follows a long and deliberate succession process launched in 2023, with D’Amaro and Walden both undergoing extensive preparation and mentorship. For Disney, the message is clear. This is not a sudden plot twist, but a handover carefully written well before the curtain rises on the next act.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
