Disney’s CEO Search: A Magical Waiting Game, Now with Extra Year of Spinning Mouse Ears!

Disney is playing an exciting game of musical chairs and has plopped James Gorman into the chairman seat starting January. Meanwhile, Bob Iger is dusting off his crystal ball for the big reveal of his replacement… sometime around early 2026. Just in time for some good ol’ pixie dust from the future! Or, you know, just enough time for everyone to forget that they ever had one.

Gorman, who apparently waltzed into Disney‘s boardroom less than a year ago (certainly not suspicious), is now the head honcho of the succession planning committee—presumably because someone thought it would be a riot to watch him try to find Iger’s successor after Iger himself fired his last pick, Bob Chapek, faster than you can say “Mulan.” Iger, in a statement that sounds suspiciously like he was reading a script from “The Lion King,” declared, “We’re lucky to have him!” Lucky indeed, as Gorman prepares for the Herculean task of spotting the next corporate prince.

As for Mark Parker, the outgoing chairman, he’s “focusing on other areas,” famously known in corporate jargon as “hiding under a pile of Nike assets.” After nine years of Disney board adventures, he’s off to kick it over at Nike, where the new CEO Elliott Hill has already been handed a pair of metaphorical sneakers and sent for a jog, in the latest trend of boardroom relay races.

Originally, Disney pegged 2025 as the year to pull back the curtain and reveal the next big cheese. However, the company opted to hit the snooze button and delay the search until early 2026. Sources close to the matter, who probably were paid handsomely to keep mum, insist this gives the board a chance to conduct “due diligence” on both internal and external candidates, aka “let’s see what happens when we throw a bunch of darts at the executive board.”

Gorman, of course, is no rookie to the game of succession; he recently played God at Morgan Stanley, where he orchestrated a “smooth” transition of power like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Except instead of a rabbit, it was just a new CEO, Ted Pick, who presumably had his own magic tricks to keep shareholders happy.

Despite the well-danced pathway to finding a new leader, Disney‘s recent history with succession planning has all the grace of a hippo on a tightrope. After the great Iger’s original sidekick, Chapek, was ousted in an epic boardroom blunder, the company has been haunted by a shadow called *What Now?* looming over its future like a persistent sequel nobody asked for.

Iger’s inner circle, including those who hold the titles of “Chairman of this” and “Co-Chairman of that,” have all been auditioning for the role, trying their best not to trip over the corporate carpet as they interview with the newly minted Gorman. Ghosts of candidates past haunt the hallways, and it seems like the chances of finding a stable successor is comparable to finding the last pair of Mickey ears during peak season at Disneyland.

While a timeline sounds neat and tidy, it’s also the corporate equivalent of putting a colorful bow on a ticking bomb. The question of who will wield the Disney wand could linger for another year, hovering ominously as if the fate of the galaxy depended on it. Iger himself has dragged out his retirement like the end credits of a blockbuster—will he ever leave, or will he just keep coming back for sequels?

As he juggles multiple contracts and possibilities, the board remains unsure if they’ll let Iger stick around past 2026 or if this Disney saga should finally wrap up. In a world where the unpredictable is the norm, and the only thing certain is uncertainty, let’s just hope Mickey isn’t holding his breath.