Josh D’Amaro has been chosen to replace Bob Iger.

disney Disney Experience Chairman Josh D’Amaro has been named as the next CEO to replace Bob Iger, winning a closely watched succession battle in the Mouse House.

Investors, industry insiders and onlookers have long been waiting to hear who will be the next leader of one of America’s most storied companies. The appointment marks the second time in six years that Disney has chosen a successor to Mr. Iger. Last time Park boss Bob Chapek’s choice evolved into a public exercise in corporate governance, with Iger taking back the CEO role and restarting the clock on his retirement.

Mr. D’Amaro’s appointment is effective at Disney’s annual meeting on March 18th. Mr. Iger will continue to serve as a senior advisor and a Disney board member until his retirement on December 31st.

“Josh D’Amaro is an exceptional leader and the right person to be our next CEO,” Iger said in a statement. “He has an instinctive understanding of the Disney brand and a deep understanding of audience empathy, along with the rigor and attention to detail required to bring our most ambitious projects to life. His ability to combine creativity with operational excellence is exemplary and I’m excited for Josh and the company.”

In recent years, the Disney board, led by former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, has been scrutinizing top candidates, primarily from within Disney’s executive ranks. CNBC previously reported that four of Iger’s direct reports – D’Amaro, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, and entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman – will all meet with the succession committee as early as 2024.

In recent months, speculation has focused on Mr. D’Amaro and Mr. Walden.

“We looked at all the new people and we wanted the person who got the job to be the best person,” Gorman told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin on Tuesday, adding that the list of candidates included more than 100 people.

Meanwhile, Walden was named president and chief creative officer as part of Tuesday’s transition announcement. Also effective March 18, Mr. Walden will report directly to Mr. D’Amaro, and in his newly created role, he will focus on Disney’s storytelling and content engine.

“If you think about what Disney is at the core of, it’s creativity. It’s amazing.” [intellectual property] It’s been decades in the making,” Gorman said Tuesday.

D’Amaro assumes his role at Disney after a period of leadership uncertainty and mixed reviews from Wall Street over the company’s financial situation. Disney reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Monday, boosted by theme parks and streaming distribution, but its stock fell 7%. Iger told investors he is confident in the changes made at Disney over the past three years and the path to future success.

Notably, its experiences division, which operates theme parks, resorts and cruises, reported quarterly revenue of more than $10 billion for the first time during the period. The division’s growth leaves plenty of room for management.

Apart from its pledge to invest $60 billion in theme parks over the next 10 years, the company plans to develop a new theme park and resort in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as it looks to capitalize on its box office advantage in 2025. But the entertainment front remains front and center as Disney overcomes the erosion of traditional television, leans behind its core content and makes its streaming business more profitable.

It will be up to Mr. Iger’s successor to take Disney to the next level.

Leading a media and theme park conglomerate like Disney is no easy task. Neither is an Iger successor.

The storied CEO has been at the helm of Disney for nearly 20 years, spanning two terms. Iger served as Disney’s CEO for 15 years before retiring for the first time in 2020, following a career at ABC, Disney’s broadcast network, and then leadership roles at the parent company.

In a quick announcement, Disney announced that Chapek, who most recently served as chairman of Disney Parks, will become CEO. Mr. Iger’s announcement came sooner than expected, and his successor nomination generally surprised the industry.

When Mr. Iger first took the helm, he oversaw acquisitions and turned the company into a powerhouse. When he stepped down in 2020, his list of accomplishments was long, including the recently launched streaming service Disney+, which initially quickly attracted subscribers.

But Chapek’s handover has been mired in drama, and the boon for streaming has been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, which spurred stay-at-home orders that shuttered movie theaters and theme parks.

Disney stock soared early in the pandemic as streaming subscriber numbers increased. But by late 2021 under Chapek, Disney’s stock price began to decline as the company reported lower revenue and slower streaming growth than Wall Street expected.

In late 2022, amid mounting criticism of Chapek’s management of Disney, Iger regained the top position. The announcement boosted the company’s stock price even though Mr. Iger’s plans included rebuilding the company he left less than two years ago.

In his second term as CEO, Mr. Iger focused on a major restructuring rather than acquisitions, implementing $5.5 billion in cost cuts, cutting jobs and creating three major divisions for the company. ESPN and sports. Parks, experiences and products.

“I’m extremely proud of everything we’ve accomplished over the past three years to put Disney on a continued growth trajectory,” Iger told investors Monday. “I’m inspired and energized by the opportunities that lie ahead for this great company.”

Mr. Iger also fended off activist campaigns, brought the TV and streaming businesses back into the black, returned Disney to the top of the box office, and announced major investments in theme parks, perhaps the company’s most ironclad business.

While Iger tried to get the business back on track, succession issues once again emerged as a major issue.

Immediately after returning as CEO, Iger told CNBC that he did not plan to stay on for more than two years.

The tentative retirement date has been postponed, as Iger previously said he intended to resign. Disney announced it would extend Iger’s contract by two years by mid-2023 and name a replacement by early 2026.

The CEO previously said that as part of the contract extension, “I want to ensure that Disney is in a strong position” for the next person to fill the role. “The importance of the succession process cannot be overstated,” Iger said in a statement at the time.

Gorman on Tuesday called it a “long, thorough, thorough process.” Gorman said the entire Disney board was involved in the process, working closely with Iger and providing outside oversight.

Mr. Chapek, who previously served as Mr. D’Amaro’s boss, was not contacted to participate in the process or share his thoughts on Disney’s next CEO, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters.

Iger was originally scheduled to take over the reins at the end of 2026, but Tuesday’s announcement means the handover will come much sooner than expected. Gorman said he decided to “step back” after Iger mentored and developed Disney’s next successor.

“He said, ‘I want to take a step back and work with this player, this team, to start this next decade on the strongest foot possible.’ And he just felt it was better to do it early in the year,” Gorman said.

In 2020, Mr. Iger handed over the immediate CEO role to Mr. Capek, who remained as Chairman of the Board until the end of 2021. CNBC previously reported that the two executives overcame a power struggle throughout Chapek’s tenure.

Mr. Gorman said Tuesday that he was not a member of Disney’s board when Mr. Iger first took over as CEO, but said he was confident of a smooth transition this time around.

“I can tell you, there won’t be any drama like last time,” Gorman told CNBC on Tuesday.

“I don’t know what happened last time and to be honest, it doesn’t matter. What matters is now,” he said.

— CNBC’s Julia Boorstin and Alex Sherman contributed to this report.