James P. Gorman Appointed as Chairman of The Walt Disney Company

The Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company has appointed James P. Gorman as Chairman, which will be effective from January 2, 2025. He will take over from Mark G. Parker, who is stepping down after nine years on the Disney Board.

Currently the Executive Chairman of Morgan Stanley, Gorman, will be leaving this role on December 31, 2024. James Gorman served as CEO of Morgan Stanley from 2010 to 2023 and as Chairman from 2012 to 2023. Before joining Morgan Stanley in 2006, he held executive roles at Merrill Lynch and was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Business Council, and previously served as a director at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and as President of the Federal Advisory Council to the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. He joined Disney’s Board in 2024. He also leads Disney’s Succession Planning Committee, which is focused on finding and preparing the next CEO of the company.