It sure seems like it. The company announced today that, at long last, Iger will soon step down as Walt Disney’s CEO, surrendering the job to Disney parks chief Josh D’Amaro at the company’s annual meeting on March 18. This time, there are no ifs, ands, or buts.
Well, almost none. Some 500 words into today’s announcement is the intriguing statement that Iger “upon transition [on March 18] will continue to serve as senior advisor and a member of the Disney board until his retirement from the company on Dec. 31, 2026.”
“Senior advisor”? That’s a new title for Iger, and while it may seem harmless, it also seems unnecessary. (Fortune has not been able to get a detailed definition of the role from Disney and will add it if it’s received.)
Longtime Disney watchers know that a phrase like that must be there for a reason. The last time Iger stepped down, he shocked the entertainment and business worlds by abruptly announcing Chapek’s promotion to CEO, effective immediately, in a Friday afternoon press release late in February 2020. Media coverage shifted almost entirely to Chapek as the new CEO.
Iger continued out of the limelight as executive chair for almost two years, then finally stepped down entirely. For the first time in his 27-year Disney career, he was in no way tethered to the company. Then, after 11 months, the board unceremoniously fired Chapek and brought Iger back as CEO.
Which brings us to today. Seven months after Iger returned as CEO in 2023, the board extended his contract until the end of 2026. Today’s announcement is in line with the contract.
It also comes, as in 2020, during a time of societal turmoil and economic uncertainty. Within its sector, Disney is relatively stable (especially the Experiences division that D’Amaro has headed), but it faces pressure on multiple fronts—weakening legacy TV and film economics amid the rise of generative AI, and a streaming play that has only recently tipped into profitability; whipsawing media‑industry dealmaking and regulatory turbulence; tariffs escalating in a global trade war; and an international climate where public sentiment toward America has grown markedly more wary and adversarial.
Disney is arguably the world’s best storyteller. The Iger saga might just deliver another plot twist.
