List of Disney CEOs (and corporate leadership) by year
List of current and former top executives of The Walt Disney Company, also known in the past as Walt Disney Productions. In some instances, such as the title of president in the late 1970s and the extent of Bob Iger’s tenure as president, company press releases and posted information may not cover all relevant years and may differ with published obituaries and organizational biographies.
Walt Disney — president (1923-1966); chairman (1945-1960); launched Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (1923), made “Steamboat Willie” (1928), “Flowers and Trees” (1932), “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937), issues first stock (1940), moves to Burbank (1940), opening of Disneyland (1955)
Roy O. Disney — CEO (unofficially, 1929; officially, 1966-1971); president (1966-1968); chairman (1945-1971); opening of Walt Disney World (1971)
Donn Tatum — president (1968-1971); CEO (1971-1976); chairman (1971-1980)
E. Cardon Walker — president (1971-1980); CEO (1976-1983); chairman (1980-1983); opening of EPCOT Center; opening of Tokyo Disneyland
Ron W. Miller — president (1978-1983); CEO (1983-1984); creation of Touchstone Films (“Splash” is first release) and The Disney Channel (1983)
Raymond Watson — chairman (1983-1984)
Frank Wells — president (1984-1994); chief operating officer (1984-1994); died 1994, helicopter crash
Michael Eisner — CEO (1984-2005); chairman (1984-2005); president (1997-2000); acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC (ESPN)
Michael Ovitz — president (1995-1996)
Bob Iger — president and chief operating officer (2000-2005); CEO (2005-2020); chairman (2012-2020); executive chairman (2020-2021); acquisition of Pixar (2006), acquisition of Marvel Entertainment (2009), acquisition of LucasFilm (2012); acquisition of 21st Century Fox (2019)
George Mitchell — chairman (2004-2006)
John E. Pepper Jr. — chairman (2007-2012)
Bob Chapek — CEO (2020-2022)
Bob Iger — CEO (2022-March 17, 2026)
Susan Arnold — chairman (2021-2023)
Mark Parker — chairman (2023-2025)
James Gorman — chairman (2025-)
Josh D’Amato — CEO (elected February 2026, March 18, 2026-)
Dana Walden — president and chief creative officer (elected February 2026, March 18, 2026-)
