Who is Josh D’Amaro, the man given the keys to the House of Mouse?

The 54-year-old is no stranger to the company having served in many different roles over three decades, most recently as Chairman of Disney Experiences

Josh D’Amaro is no stranger to the Disney company, having served there in many different roles over the last three decades.

Most recently, D’Amaro has been the Chairman of Disney Experiences – overseeing the running of the company’s theme parks, cruises and resorts since 2020.

His promotion to Disney’s top job, announced on Tuesday, marks the culmination of a steady upward trajectory within the iconic franchise over nearly three decades.

“Josh D’Amaro possesses that rare combination of inspiring leadership and innovation, a keen eye for strategic growth opportunities, and a deep passion for the Disney brand and its people – all of which make him the right person to take the helm as Disney’s next CEO,” James Gorman, chairman of Disney’s board of directors, said Tuesday.

The 54-year-old, who is set to take the helm from current CEO Bob Iger on March 18, is also a lifelong Disney fan.

D’Amaro is well known for his love of Disney’s wholesome family entertainment, having slept overnight inside Cinderella Castle at Disney World in Florida, according to The New York Times. His personal Instagram page contains multiple pictures of himself smiling alongside franchise characters inside the parks and at Marvel movie premieres.

"As much as I feel honored, it’s also a burden,” he told The Orlando Business Journal in 2020, shortly after becoming the new president of Walt Disney World. Recalling a conversation about Walt Disney’s legacy, he added, “I couldn’t believe I was in the role to carry it on. I think about that all the time.”

Disney has named Josh D’Amaro as the person to succeed CEO Bob Iger at the head of the entertainment giant, a role he will take on as of March 18. The 54-year-old is no stranger to the company having already served there in many different roles over three decades, most recently as Chairman of Disney Experiences (Getty Images)

Five years later, during an interview to mark 70 years of Disney Parks, D’Amaro recalled the special memories of the first time he visited Disneyland at the age of 10 years old, including riding Peter Pan Flight with his father, and he has vowed to carry the magic forward.

“Years later, I had a similar experience when I took my own kids on Soarin’ [Around the World, in EPCOT] for the first time – like so many families, we pass our love for Disney from one generation to the next,” he said.

Details about D’Amaro’s personal life, including his wife and children, are not known publicly.

Public records show D’Amaro was registered as an independent voter in Florida in 2016, though it remains to be seen how he will work with the Trump administration, which has clashed with Iger during his tenure.

During an interview to mark 70 years of Disney Park last year, D’Amaro recalled the special memories first time he had visited Disneyland at the age of 10 years old (Getty Images)

Despite opposing many of Trump's first-term policies, Iger scaled back Disney’s DEI efforts and in September 2025, temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! over comments the talk-show host made about MAGA in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

In his previous role as Chair of Disney Experiences, D’Amaro oversaw 12 theme parks and 57 resort hotels across six global destinations in the U.S., Europe and Asia, plus an upcoming Disney park in Abu Dhabi, and a global team of 185,000 “cast members.”

He has also been guiding a multi-year, $60 billion investment for Disney Experiences, which will include new cruise ships, resorts, themed lands, attractions, and technologies, according to his bio on the Disney Website.

In addition, he serves on the national board of directors for Make-A-Wish America, a long-time Disney partner that has granted more than 170,000 wishes in the past 45 years.

In his previous role, D’Amaro oversaw 12 theme parks and 57 resort hotels across six global destinations in the U.S., Europe and Asia, plus an upcoming Disney park in Abu Dhabi, and a global team of 185,000 ‘cast members’ (Getty Images)

Born in Medfield, Massachusetts, in 1971, D’Amaro graduated with a business administration degree from Georgetown University in 1993. He had a brief stint in the finance department of men’s razor and care products company Gillette in Boston before applying for a Disney strategy job in 1998.

In the first 10 years at the company, he held various leadership positions, including vice president of sales and travel trade marketing from 1998 to 2008. During this time, he was also director of business planning and strategy development.

From here, he began to move into more senior leadership positions in Disney Parks and Experiences. The first was vice president of Adventures by Disney in 2010, which gave him oversight on all Disney group guided tour operations both in the U.S. and internationally.

D’Amaro served as vice president of Disney's Animal Kingdom during the planning of the biggest expansion of the park in history: the inclusion of Pandora – The World of Avatar, which was created in partnership with James Cameron (Getty Images for 20th Century St)

From there, he moved up to vice president of Disney's Animal Kingdom and remained in the role during the planning of the biggest expansion in park history: the inclusion of Pandora – The World of Avatar, created in partnership with James Cameron.

After work on the expansion began in 2014, D’Amaro became senior vice president of Resort & Transportation Operations at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, a position he held until 2017.

From then until 2020, he held positions including President of Disneyland Resort in California and President of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. When Bob Chapek was announced as Iger’s successor as Disney CEO, D’Amaro was named as his replacement to lead Disney Experiences.

When Bob Chapek was announced in 2020 as Iger’s successor as Disney CEO, D’Amaro was named as his replacement as Director of Parks (Getty Images)

D’Amaro oversaw the closure of parks during the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent cutting of 28,000 employees. During the closures, the company carried out major works on the parks, including adding the World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea's Fantasy Springs in Japan.

"We could spend billions of dollars on a new land or attraction, but you need to be putting that money back into the [common areas] or the break rooms to make sure they are equipped so you feel good. To me, it's a sign of respect to make people feel good about their surroundings," he told OBJ.

"We're thinking about these investments," he added. "Making sure that the next generation is going to take in something and say, 'I can't believe that experience.'"

D’Amaro oversaw the closure of parks during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the subsequent cutting of 28,000 employees, though used the time as an opportunity to make improvements to the parks, including adding the World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea's Fantasy Springs in Japan (Walt Disney Resorts via Getty Im)

Despite his steady rise, D'Amaro has had missteps.

In 2021, he supported a proposal to move 2,000 California-based employees, including most of its theme park Imagineers, to central Florida to capitalize on the state’s tax incentives. Iger later reversed the decision, in the heat of Disney’s legal battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Iger returned to Disney as CEO in 2022, two years after stepping down, after a period of clashes, missteps and a weakening financial performance under Chapek. Despite this, D’Amaro seems to have amassed the confidence of the senior leadership, including the board, in the wake of the Chapek debacle.

“We won't have the same drama we had last time, that I can assure you,” Gorman said Tuesday in an interview on CNBC.