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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.
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Paytm taps Ujas Shah as vice president for sales, business development
Veteran executive to drive swiping devices and merchant-led growth
BENGALURU: Paytm has appointed Ujas Shah as vice president—sales business development, reinforcing its push to scale offline payments and device-led monetisation as competition in fintech intensifies.
In the role, Shah will lead business development for swiping devices, shape go-to-market strategy and oversee profit-and-loss execution across Paytm’s offline payments stack. His remit includes expanding distribution, tightening merchant lifecycle management and rolling out KPI-led sales systems aimed at improving acquisition and retention.
The appointment reads like an operational signal from the top: execution, discipline and scale now matter as much as growth. Industry executives say device-led payments, long viewed as margin accretive, are back in sharp focus.
Shah is a long-standing Paytm executive, having previously served as national sales head, assistant vice president and general manager for sales. Before joining the company, he held senior roles at Kinara Capital, where he was field sales head, and earlier at Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Samsung Electronics and Asian Paints.
His two decades across telecom, consumer and fintech businesses give him a rare, cross-sector view of distribution-heavy models: an asset as Paytm looks to extract more value from its merchant base amid tighter capital and higher investor scrutiny.
