By Lauren Thomas and Ben Fritz
Nelson Peltz, two years removed from fighting for board seats at Walt Disney, threw a fresh zinger at Bob Iger and his CEO succession plan on Tuesday.
In an interview at The Wall Street Journal's Invest Live event, Peltz questioned the motives behind the selection of parks and cruise-ship head Josh D'Amaro as Iger's successor. The company chose D'Amaro over entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden.
"Iger needs a reason to stay on," Peltz said. "And if he put the person in charge of entertainment as the CEO, he wouldn't have an excuse to stay on."
Iger previously stepped down in 2020 in favor of former parks chairman Bob Chapek. The two men clashed internally over control after the transition and Iger ultimately came back as CEO in 2022.
Peltz, the co-founder and CEO of Trian Fund Management, predicted that history would repeat itself and Iger would eventually announce that "Josh doesn't know anything about the movie business...Therefore, I'm gonna stay on and guide them."
Representatives for Disney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
D'Amaro will become Disney's CEO on March 18. Iger will stay on as a director and senior adviser for the company until his contract expires on Dec. 31.
Disney's succession process was run by board Chairman James Gorman, who previously helped manage his own succession at Morgan Stanley. Gorman said in an interview that the succession committee considered more than 100 people before homing in on several internal and external candidates.
He said Iger was as involved in the process as other board members not on the succession committee, but his primary role was mentoring internal candidates including D'Amaro and Walden.
Gorman, who wasn't on Disney's board during the Chapek era, predicted Iger's second CEO transition would go more smoothly. "There's no tension here," he said. "This will go down well."
Peltz twice tried to force his way onto the board of Disney and battled Iger over who would take over the entertainment giant. But Disney investors backed Iger and the board, most recently in 2024, rejecting the activist's concerns.
Trian sold the stock the day after losing the vote in April 2024 and the shares have fallen about 15% since then. Trian no longer has a stake in Disney.
"That's what happens when you beat us in a proxy fight," Peltz said.
Write to Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com and Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 03, 2026 12:44 ET (17:44 GMT)
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