Josh D'Amaro Disney If there was a moment in Josh D'Amaro's nearly 30-year career at The Walt Disney Co. that underscores the unique role the entertainment giant has in the hearts of people around the world, it would probably be the day he took over as president of Disneyland in February of 2018. Above the firehouse on Main Street, USA, Walt Disney himself had an apartment built so he had a place to stay when was at the park, and D'Amaro joined his predecessor Michael Colglazier in the space, to carry on a tradition that one Disneyland chief passes on to the next: Using Walt Disney's own hot plate, they cooked grilled cheese and chili, before stepping onto the patio. Related Stories Business Disney's New CEO Josh D'Amaro on His Vision for Company: "I'm a Big Risk Taker" Business Inside Disney's Succession: Board Chair James Gorman on What Went Into Finding the Next CEO "We watched as guests strolled by on Main Street, we talked about what it means to make the place so special to millions of people, so special to the world," D'Amaro recalled, speaking to the Inbound marketing conference in Boston in Sept. 2024. "At that moment, I must admit that I felt aware of the responsibility that I was taking on, because Disney fans, they take their fandom very, very seriously." D'Amaro, of course, was named the next CEO of Disney on Feb. 3, and he will now be responsible for serving that fandom not just at Disneyland in Anaheim, but around the world, not just in theme parks and on cruise ships, but in movie theaters and on Disney+, on ESPN and, soon enough, inside Fortnite and OpenAI's Sora. The veteran executive, who has worked on the company's theme parks, experiences and consumer products for the past three decades or so, will now have the weight of the entertainment business on his shoulders. According to people who have worked with D'Amaro, and who know him personally, he possesses two particular skills that should come in handy when he officially takes the reins next month: A sincere admiration for creativity, and a business executive's grasp of the strategies, spreadsheets and numbers that make global companies tick. "He has exceptionally high EQ [emotional intelligence], kind of like Bob Iger, frankly, and he loves and understands and is deeply committed to the Disney brand," says Kevin Mayer, the Candle Media co-CEO, who worked closely with D'Amaro at Disney. "He's also a very savvy business person, he is exceptionally quantitative in his approach to business and he really can run the numbers. He's detailed, he has a very keen eye on the bottom line, and he's pretty strategic too." "Josh always had a creative streak to him. He was someone who would make me laugh. We worked on school projects together," says Kevin Foley, the global head of capital markets at JPMorgan, who was a childhood friend of D'Amaro. "He got along well with people and had the ability to be both a team player and leader. He connected well with everyone and people would gravitate toward him." Josh D'Amaro and Bob Iger at a Disneyland 70th Anniversary event Disney D'Amaro grew up in Medfield, Massachusetts, a short drive outside of Boston. An avid athlete, he grew up playing basketball and soccer (his dad coached the teams). "It's a small town, a tight knit community and very value oriented, with a focus on doing the right thing and working hard," Foley recalls. "We were taught to take our academics seriously, treat people respectfully and good things would happen." He now lives in Orange County with his wife and kids, though Disney noted in an SEC filing that he is eligible for a relocation benefit, which suggests he could end up moving closer to the company's Burbank headquarters. For the next fiscal year, D'Amaro is set to receive a pay package of about $38 million. A graduate of Georgetown University, he started his professional career in Boston as a financial analyst for Gillette, before joining Disneyland in a strategy role in 1998. Over the next three decades he would rise through the ranks, at Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland and Walt Disney World, ultimately taking over Disney's experiences division in May of 2020, a few months after Bob Chapek was named CEO of the company. Disney, however, is still grappling with the fallout of that succession process, and there is little doubt that it heavily influenced how Disney approached this one. Chapek, like D'Amaro, was the leader of Disney's experiences business before being elevated to succeed CEO Bob Iger. Iger, of course, stuck around as executive chairman, taking a hands-on role with the company's creative output. But Chapek, sources said at the time, alienated members of Disney's creative teams, particular in its animation units, which saw their films shift toward streaming-first releases as Chapek reorganized the company around a central operating structure called DMED. Some in the company felt that Chapek was elevating the MBAs over the people actually creating the characters and wo