Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: After a three year search, Disney's board and his chairman,
Speaker 2: James Gorman, have named a CEO successor. Josh Tomorrow, will
Speaker 2: be promoted for being Parks chief to succeed Bobby IgA
Speaker 2: in March of this year. Mister Gorman joins us. Now,
Speaker 2: good morning, miss Gorman, thank you for your time. I mean,
Speaker 2: let's start with the simple question, why James Tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Well, it's Josh Tomorrow Tomorrow. Good morning, ed.
Speaker 3: He's listen. He's the He's a fantastic executive. He's strategic.
Speaker 3: He's run a huge operations, with one which Disney is
Speaker 3: now investing sixty billion dollars of capital into.
Speaker 1: He has great creative instincts.
Speaker 3: He has what Bob Iger calls exceptional taste. He's a
Speaker 3: leader who's operated all the globe, including the recent expansion
Speaker 3: that's going to happen in the UAE, which he did
Speaker 3: with Bob. He's the purpose person for this time. So
Speaker 3: Josh is just a standout executive. We looked all over
Speaker 3: the world, as you could imagine, we wanted to do
Speaker 3: this right. We want to make sure that whoever got
Speaker 3: the job beat all comers and he beat all comers.
Speaker 1: So we're through.
Speaker 2: Mister Gorman, what mandatory goals performance targets did you set
Speaker 2: mister Demorrow over the term of his contract.
Speaker 3: Well, we haven't set goals in terms of his contract.
Speaker 3: He hasn't started. He'll be taking over as CEO at
Speaker 3: the annual meeting, which is March eighteen. Bob will be
Speaker 3: working with him through twenty twenty six, gaiding and mentoring and.
Speaker 1: Helping further develop him.
Speaker 3: Obviously, he laid out a vision for the board in
Speaker 3: the various discussions we had, which we had numerous ones,
Speaker 3: we really got to know Josh and all the other
Speaker 3: top executives Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, Jimmy Pittaro, just a
Speaker 3: tremendous group of four executives we had to consider in
Speaker 3: this process. And you know, over time we'll work with
Speaker 3: him as he settles into the job to lay out
Speaker 3: what the right strategic moves will be and how we're
Speaker 3: going to measure ourselves against those. So I'm highly confident
Speaker 3: in Josh and the team working with him.
Speaker 2: Mister Gorman, there was reporting that mister Eiger confided in
Speaker 2: those close to him that he wanted to leave Disney
Speaker 2: before the end of his contracted term. To what extent
Speaker 2: did that that pushed the board to move up its
Speaker 2: succession timeline.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think firstly, let's just talk about Bob. I mean,
Speaker 3: he's had effectively two careers at Disney. The first was
Speaker 3: an amazing fifteen year run where he did deals that
Speaker 3: you know, nobody else on the planet could have done. Frankly,
Speaker 3: he worked with Steve Jobs, with George Lucas, with Rupert
Speaker 3: Murdoch to buy a bunch of studios which we now
Speaker 3: oversee seven studios which Alan Bergman has been overseen by
Speaker 3: the way produced Allen's leadership and working with Dana and
Speaker 3: has produced over six billion dollar movies in the last
Speaker 3: two years.
Speaker 1: But Bob did a phenomenal job.
Speaker 3: When the company got in trouble, and it was before
Speaker 3: I joined the board, they invited.
Speaker 1: Bob to come back. And really there were two mandates
Speaker 1: for him.
Speaker 3: What was to get us through the very difficult post
Speaker 3: COVID period and the changes taking place in the linear
Speaker 3: space with what was going on in streaming and now
Speaker 3: what is going on in AI. He did that. He
Speaker 3: really got the company fit for purpose. The second was
Speaker 3: to make sure if we were to go internal that
Speaker 3: the lead executives, and we had four of them to consider,
Speaker 3: would be ready for prime time if and.
Speaker 1: When we went in that direction. We ultimately did. So.
Speaker 1: Bob came to us a little while ago and said,
Speaker 1: they're ready. I mean, Josh is ready. He's ready to
Speaker 1: take over if the board's will is to move on this.
Speaker 3: I want to step aside and I want to work
Speaker 3: with Josh as a senior advisor, stay on the board
Speaker 3: through the end of the year. It's not about the
Speaker 3: length of the contract that he was under. It's about
Speaker 3: his role as CEO and then as mentor for the
Speaker 3: next CEO. So hats after Bob. It was very selfless
Speaker 3: and frankly, it's what's great for the company.
Speaker 2: Did you consider Bob Iger continuing on in a co
Speaker 2: chairman capacity or a chairman emeritus type role.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that.
Speaker 2: You know there is an advisor agreement here, but does
Speaker 2: that have a definitive end.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Bob, Bob war says, an employee, advisor and board
Speaker 3: member until the end of twenty twenty six, and then
Speaker 3: he'll step off the board.
Speaker 1: He won't be an employee.
Speaker 3: He'll continue to consult to the company consistent with what
Speaker 3: former executives do. I'm doing that at my former institution,
Speaker 3: Morgan Stanley. But no, we were not. You know, Bob
Speaker 3: was not interested in remaining as a chair or co chair.
Speaker 3: We needed a completely clean start here, which is what
Speaker 3: we're having. He'll be there to support a mentor and
Speaker 3: we have the right structure for the future.
Speaker 1: So we're thrilled.
Speaker 3: And you know, you look at what's going on now
Speaker 3: that we've appointed Dana also as president and a new role,
Speaker 3: Chief Creative Officer.
Speaker 1: That's to ensure that the leadership team.
Speaker 3: At the heart of this company is creativity and storytelling,
Speaker 3: and it's to ensure the leadership team brings their absolute
Speaker 3: best every day, leveraging our IP telling stories across all
Speaker 3: of our properties, whether it's cruises or parks, TV, our
Speaker 3: ESPN platform, and obviously the studios. So we're really set.
Speaker 3: We're set for the next decade. I'm very excited about it.
Speaker 1: Mister woman.
Speaker 2: Ultimately, you went with Josh Tomorrow for the seer role
Speaker 2: in promoting Dana Walden to the CEO president hybrid role,
Speaker 2: how conscious were you of keeping her, you know, giving
Speaker 2: her that title to ensure she stays at Disney long term.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, if you don't want to keep talented executives,
Speaker 3: there's something wrong with you. You know, we had an
Speaker 3: embarrassed and of riches we have. You know, as I said,
Speaker 3: Jimmy Peto who's run a ESPN as a fabulous executive,
Speaker 3: Alan Bergman, who's run around studios businesses at seven Studios,
Speaker 3: has done unbelievable job. Dana obviously incredible executive of the
Speaker 3: long history in Hollywood, in the industry, and Josh.
Speaker 1: We wanted to keep all of them, and I believe
Speaker 1: we will.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think this is a win win for everybody,
Speaker 3: and I'm just I couldn't be more excited about it.
Speaker 3: So yeah, absolutely, if you have talent, you want to
Speaker 3: keep them. Finding talent, developing talent is really hard. So
Speaker 3: when you got it, you do what you can to
Speaker 3: retain it.
Speaker 2: Well, mister Gormant, it seemed like a four way playoff,
Speaker 2: right of internal candidates in that vein. How concerned or
Speaker 2: otherwise were you about keeping Jimmy Pittarro and Alan Bergman
Speaker 2: at Disney long term two?
Speaker 1: Well, it was more than four ways.
Speaker 3: We really approached this and when I say we the board,
Speaker 3: we had a succession Planning Committee, and I was honored
Speaker 3: to serve with Calvin McDonald, so Jeremy Daryl and Mary Barrow,
Speaker 3: who were the succession Planning Committee. Then we quickly moved
Speaker 3: to full board engagement, and each of the other directors
Speaker 3: played a meaningful role in this, and I couldn't be
Speaker 3: more grateful.
Speaker 1: For what they did.
Speaker 3: But you know, we decided early on we wanted to
Speaker 3: look at all comers. We had a list, my goodness,
Speaker 3: it must have been over one hundred people initially that
Speaker 3: we thought about. We considered, we evaluated. We ended up
Speaker 3: talking to several executives outside the company because I wanted
Speaker 3: to be sure.
Speaker 1: We all wanted to be sure that.
Speaker 3: Whoever got this job got it on their merits, they
Speaker 3: had beaten anything that was presented from the marketplace, and
Speaker 3: we had the best possible candidate. So that included external,
Speaker 3: and included internal, and included the four that you talked about,
Speaker 3: and I think all of them are very important to
Speaker 3: this company and we're honored to have them in critical.
Speaker 1: Roles, mister Gorman.
Speaker 2: In May of twenty nineteen, I was sat opposite Bob
Speaker 2: Chapek at the opening of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, right
Speaker 2: and at that time the parks. By February of the
Speaker 2: following year, he was CEO and it was all about IP,
Speaker 2: his ability to take the growth in parks, the IP
Speaker 2: in parks, grow it out. Star Wars is a good
Speaker 2: case study. But to many, you know, and maybe investors
Speaker 2: had a viewpoint on this, on a co CEO structure
Speaker 2: or somebody coming from Parks to lead the wider business.
Speaker 2: Josh Damara has a very similar background to mister Jpek.
Speaker 2: How closely did you look at that those parallels in
Speaker 2: that scenario.
Speaker 3: Not especially we look at the individual. We don't look
Speaker 3: at you know, just bios whatever. I mean, You've got
Speaker 3: to look at what the individual has done. Josh is
Speaker 3: incredibly innovative what he's done in the imagineering space for
Speaker 3: those creative teams, building the IP into the parks, end
Speaker 3: of the cruisers. I mean, this is this is not
Speaker 3: an operations job. This is an operations and a creative job.
Speaker 3: It's telling stories that create incredible experience for everybody who
Speaker 3: goes through those gates or gets on one of the ships.
Speaker 3: And he is incredibly capable of doing that. So I've
Speaker 3: always said what you look for in CEOs is not
Speaker 3: just what they've done that's important, but it's.
Speaker 1: What they're capable of doing.
Speaker 3: You know, I tell the story I ran Morgan Standing
Speaker 3: for fourteen years. I'd never been a trader, I'd never
Speaker 3: been a banker. You know, you take people for what
Speaker 3: they can do, building on some of the things they've
Speaker 3: learned in the process. And I you know, I look
Speaker 3: at Josh as an individual, not as a comparison, and
Speaker 3: I think he'll be a fabulous CEO.
Speaker 1: He has all of the skills to lead Disney for
Speaker 1: the next ten years.
Speaker 2: Mister Gorman, you were brought in as chairman in part
Speaker 2: to oversee this succession process. It's now over. You've reflected
Speaker 2: on your time at Morgan Stanley. What's next for you?
Speaker 2: Do you expect to remain longer term with Disney or
Speaker 2: are you looking at perhaps a move back into the
Speaker 2: financial industry or something.
Speaker 1: Else suggesting I retire it.
Speaker 2: Not at all so, but there is a great deal
Speaker 2: of interest in what you will do. Maybe you'll let
Speaker 2: us know.
Speaker 1: Let us no, I'm not.
Speaker 3: I mean, I work with General Landing, which is an
Speaker 3: amazing firm in the financial space, but I'm not interested
Speaker 3: in going back into the world the pure world of finance.
Speaker 3: I want to help the Walt Disney Company and help
Speaker 3: Josh and the new leadership team and work with Bob
Speaker 3: on this transition, and help the board in making sure
Speaker 3: we deliver what we can.
Speaker 1: This company's trading fifteen times earnings. That's nuts.
Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, there are very few companies that have
Speaker 3: this quality of assets, this quality of bones, as I
Speaker 3: call it, that what we have. There are tremendous motes
Speaker 3: around the businesses. I'm excited about the prospect of what
Speaker 3: we can see from Disney over the next several years.
Speaker 3: So no, I'm very much saying put thank.
Speaker 2: You James Gorman, chairman of the Walt Disney Company that
Speaker 2: today has announced Josh Tomorrow as the next CEO, succeeding
Speaker 2: Bob Iger in March.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much much, Thanks so much,