Disney’s Josh D’Amaro Shares Insight Into Growth At The Company

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 14: Josh D’Amaro, CEO, The Walt Disney Company, speaks onstage astatine the Disney Entertainment Showcase astatine D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event connected August 14, 2026 successful Anaheim, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Disney)

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Disney

“It’s still unusual to maine to perceive Josh and CEO because I’ve been present for 30 years,” says Josh D’Amaro, CEO of The Walt Disney Company during a mini group media sheet astatine Disney’s large instrumentality expo, D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. But complete the past 5 months arsenic the leader astatine The Walt Disney Company, D’Amaro has made 1 point very clear: increasing the institution pinch a fans-first mindset.

Having the fans-first mentality is thing that D’Amaro has carried pinch him since the opening of his career. During the panel, he shared that 1 of his first meetings aft being hired astatine Disney was astir building connected Main Street, U.S.A. astatine Disneyland Park and wherever to move a trash tin truthful it didn’t effect guests.

Additionally, he shared that arsenic he grew pinch the company’s parks business, if he wasn’t successful a meeting, he was successful the parks talking pinch guests and formed members (what Disney calls employees), often without a ample entourage. “For immoderate leader, rather frankly, there’s thing much important than staying successful nonstop touch pinch who your user is, who your instrumentality is, and what they want,” he says. Through these conversations, D’Amaro says fans and labor told him astir their Disney story, hopes for the company, and moreover concerns astir various projects.

Even now arsenic CEO, while connected a overmuch larger standard than a Disneyland trash can, D’Amaro shares that the aforesaid level of detail, excellence and instrumentality acquisition is what drives him and his teams, from Walt Disney Imagineering to the studios Disney owns. “It has to beryllium perfect. It’s sewage to beryllium correct for our fans, and we return that very, very seriously,” he shares.

Disney’s Three Pillars

Besides proceeding fans and making judge they consciousness seen, D’Amaro says 3 things are really important to him arsenic CEO. The first is that Disney continues to show the world’s champion stories, whether that’s done movies, park attractions, aliases moreover Broadway shows.

The 2nd is celebrating the intersection of exertion and media. “I don’t deliberation it’s ever been much applicable and much powerful. I want to push into the exertion that’s disposable to us, wed it pinch beautiful story-making, and push the institution forward," he explains.

The 3rd pillar D’Amaro revealed is showing up arsenic 1 company, sloppy of the various businesses wrong the larger Disney ecosystem. “We’re not ESPN and streaming and taxable parks and movies. We're the Walt Disney Company, and for anyone that's looking astir contextually astatine the intermezo scenery correct now, it benignant of looks for illustration group are trying to look for illustration Disney,” D’Amaro says.

So what does “One Disney” really mean? D’Amaro explains that each of the company’s businesses, whether it’s streaming, sports, consumer products, taxable parks aliases movies, tin guidelines connected its own, but they are amended erstwhile they activity together. “Each of the businesses unsocial is great, but together, erstwhile we present to our fans a seamless, broad acquisition pinch us, it’s awesome for them arsenic a fan, and it's awesome for america arsenic a business,” he says.

This thought seems comparable to D’Amaro’s erstwhile statements astir a perchance monolithic Disney ace app that would let fans to interact pinch the company’s various businesses and experiences connected 1 platform.

Disney’s Biggest Global Opportunities

Some of Disney’s biggest opportunities dishonesty extracurricular of the United States. In fact, D’Amaro credits Disney’s world description to his predecessor, Bob Iger. “One of his apical priorities was to grow internationally; you saw a large opportunity for Disney to show up successful different parts of the world extracurricular of the U.S., and that’s travel to fruition,” D’Amaro says.

One of the biggest areas for maturation that D’Amaro sees is Disney Cruise Line. “These cruise ships are benignant of for illustration the champion ambassador for our marque you tin perchance have,” he tells the media group. “We tin float them retired to caller markets and induce group into our stories and into our Disney family.”

Disney Cruise Line precocious launched its first Asia-based cruise ship, Disney Adventure, which homeports successful Singapore. In 2029, a caller vessel successful business pinch Oriental Land Co., Ltd. will beryllium based successful Japan. Additionally, Disney Cruise Line has announced it is building a caller people of smaller ships, sized betwixt the Magic- and the Wish-Class ships. The upcoming mid-sized ships will beryllium capable to sojourn much unsocial destinations astir the world owed to their size.

D’Amaro besides mentions streaming arsenic a monolithic world opportunity for Disney. He says that because Disney’s streaming services beryllium successful galore parts of the world, Disney tin present group to its different businesses arsenic well. “The footprint is ample today, and it’s only going to grow complete time,” he says.

Where is Disney Going successful the Future

After the events and showcases of D23, from screening movie trailers and clips to pulling backmost the curtain connected what’s coming to Disney Parks astir the world, D’Amaro says he hopes Disney continues to beryllium a spot wherever everybody is welcome, and wherever fans tin flight from everything other that’s going connected successful the world.

“At the aforesaid time, I deliberation that we request to return that aforesaid halfway emotion and make judge that we’re bringing it to caller fans and caller parts of the world,” D’Amaro continues. “We want to make judge that these stories transportation into caller generations wherever they're discovering characters and storytelling successful ways that make complete consciousness to them.”

That’s portion of the logic Disney is getting into the gaming abstraction and bringing TikTok and Disney+ together. Disney knows that’s wherever younger fans are taking successful stories, and the snowball effect of interacting pinch the marque done integer media tin entice the aforesaid fans to spell to a theatre aliases to a taxable park.

“Walt was exceptional astir being consenting to return a adjacent measurement into thing that the world had ne'er seen before. And I deliberation the anticipation of holding onto who you are and what you are, but still stepping into the unknown—that’s what Disney is,” says D’Amaro.