Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro was welding a 12-foot sculpture at 2 a.m. when he decided art wouldn't pay the bills

The story of how Disney’s CEO started on his path to becoming Head Mouseketeer seemingly began with such a thought.

CEO woes

Josh D’Amaro became CEO of the Walt Disney Company in March of this year, ending the long search to replace longtime CEO Bob Iger — a rocky process that saw his first replacement, Bob Chapek, leave after just two years, with Iger returning to the post.

A New York Times report published in January, speculating on whether D’Amaro would ascend to the top job, characterized Iger and his failed successor Chapek as “opposites in both personality and approach,” which “contributed to a colossal falling-out.”

The report noted that, in contrast, Iger and D’Amaro were “eerily similar.”

With 19 years total leading Disney, the Times said Iger personified the brand — “safe and wholesome, optimistic” — and that D’Amaro had “honed a similar persona.” The two executives even have the same birthday, and the report notes that “[w]hether by emulation or coincidence, Mr. D’Amaro dresses like Mr. Iger (thin-knit sweaters over collared shirts).”

Art school exit

According to the Times, D’Amaro’s entire career — including an impressive 28 years working for Disney — has been spent as an executive.

But the C-suite wasn’t always his dream.

In 2024, at D23, which is a biennial fan expo event, D’Amaro reportedly told the story of how his career began.

D’Amaro, who hails from a town outside Boston, wanted to pursue a career as a sculptor, and was studying art at Skidmore College.

“At the end of his sophomore year,” the Times report says, “D’Amaro found himself welding a 12-foot sculpture at 2 a.m. while fretting about how he would ever support a family as an artist.”

D’Amaro said that he finished the sculpture and changed schools, leaving Skidmore to study marketing at Georgetown University.

He graduated in 1993, and from there secured a position working in finance for Gillette.

According to the Times, he “applied cold for a strategy job at Disney” in 1998, and the rest is history. Other than his first job at Gillette after university, D’Amaro has spent his entire career at Disney.