List of Disney CEOs (and corporate leadership) by year
Walt Disney — president (1923-1966); chairman (1945-1960); launched Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (1923), made “Steamboat Willie” (1928), “Flowers and Trees” (1932), “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937), issues first stock (1940), moves to Burbank (1940), opening of Disneyland (1955)
Roy O. Disney — CEO (unofficially, 1929; officially, 1966-1971); president (1966-1968); chairman (1945-1971); opening of Walt Disney World (1971)
Donn Tatum — president (1968-1971); CEO (1971-1976); chairman (1971-1980)
E. Cardon Walker — president (1971-1983); CEO (1976-1983); chairman (1980-1984); opening of EPCOT Center; opening of Tokyo Disneyland
Ron W. Miller — president (1978-1983); CEO (1983-1984); creation of Touchstone Films (“Splash” is first release) and The Disney Channel (1983)
Raymond Watson — chairman (1983-1984)
Frank Wells — president (1984-1994); chief operating officer (1984-1994); died 1994, helicopter crash
Michael Eisner — CEO (1984-2005); chairman (1984-2005); president (1997-2000); acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC (ESPN)
Michael Ovitz — president (1995-1996)
Bob Iger — president (2000-2005); CEO (2005-2020); chairman (2012-2020); executive chairman (2020-2021); acquisition of Pixar (2006), acquisition of Marvel Entertainment (2009), acquisition of LucasFilm (2012); acquisition of 21th Century Fox (2019)
George Mitchell — chairman (2004-2006)
John E. Pepper Jr. — chairman (2007-2012)
Bob Chapek — CEO (2020-2022)
Bob Iger — CEO (2022-)
Susan Arnold — chairman (2021-2023)
Mark Parker — chairman (2023-2025)
James Gorman — chairman (2025-)