News Josh D’Amaro Named Next CEO of The Walt Disney Company

[DisneyCane]

So you're saying Disney leadership cannot follow Walt's vision and theme park rules, which have carefully and meticulously recorded by one of the company's most accomplished Imagineers, because shareholders won't let them and because the CEO didn't know Walt personally?

I'd encourage you to read the document I linked. It's literally a blueprint for how to build and run a successful theme park based on the actual experience of Disneyland, and it speaks directly to how lucrative Walt's vision was/is. It includes critiques and endorsements, but investors are quoted as saying:

"He (Walt Disney) has proved that high dedication to social and moral values and being a good businessman need not conflict''; he not only made a vast fortune, but also has contributed to the betterment of the country through his innovations"; "he has the finest ethics of any man in any profession I have ever known"; and "he has been able to make a large profit, while contributing to the aesthetic well-being of millions of people."​

Don't you think this is something Josh could carry into his leadership of the company? Even if he didn't know Walt?

No. What I'm saying is leadership answers to shareholders. Josh doesn't hold enough stock to have the power to do what he wants to. Walt had power to do things the way he wanted to like Elon Musk does with Tesla.

 

[_caleb]

No. What I'm saying is leadership answers to shareholders. Josh doesn't hold enough stock to have the power to do what he wants to. Walt had power to do things the way he wanted to like Elon Musk does with Tesla.

I don’t think shareholders care how the parks are run as long as the stock values increase. So if Josh wanted to chart a more Walt-like and parks-forward course, all he’d need to do is show (as Crump chronicled in the document) that Walt’s way would be good for business.

And I do think Walt’s way would be good for business, just maybe not in the near-term.

 

[HMF]

Walt had power to do things the way he wanted to like Elon Musk does with Tesla.

Except he actually believed in respecting his customers.

 

[DisneyCane]

I don’t think shareholders care how the parks are run as long as the stock values increase. So if Josh wanted to chart a more Walt-like and parks-forward course, all he’d need to do is show (as Crump chronicled in the document) that Walt’s way would be good for business.

And I do think Walt’s way would be good for business, just maybe not in the near-term.

And that is the problem. Stockholders care about the near term with an established company. Especially with a conglomerate like Disney.

 

[DisneyCane]

Except he actually believed in respecting his customers.

I'm a Tesla customer and I don't feel disrespected. I'm assuming you are referring to something outside of business and that discussion would certainly violate forum rules.

 

[_caleb]

And that is the problem. Stockholders care about the near term with an established company. Especially with a conglomerate like Disney.

This is why Walt had to constantly cast vision for how deeper near-term investment would have longer-term benefits.

He had to do it to get Disneyland built. And then, after its success, he did it again to bring in investors without losing creative control.

I think it’s still doable for Josh.

 

[UNCgolf]

I'm a Tesla customer and I don't feel disrespected. I'm assuming you are referring to something outside of business and that discussion would certainly violate forum rules.

From a business perspective he's moving Tesla away from building consumer vehicles, so I guess you could call that disrespecting customers if they wanted a new Tesla they could drive sometime in the future.

He wants to build robots and cybercabs instead.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

What I'm saying is leadership answers to shareholders. Josh doesn't hold enough stock to have the power to do what he wants to.

I mean the CEO does get to make decisions.

Most of the things we are hoping for aren’t even major budget changes that shareholders would even notice or care about.

Just noticing details and pushing park operations to have better training etc. would go a long way.

 

[_caleb]

Around here, Disney leadership is cast as essentially a figurehead, completely unable to make any decisions whatsoever because of shareholders, the board, and Bob Iger,

or

The CEO is a tyrant who does whatever is expedient, with no checks or balances, and no regard for the company or its customers.

 

[HMF]

From a business perspective he's moving Tesla away from building consumer vehicles, so I guess you could call that disrespecting customers if they wanted a new Tesla they could drive down the road.

He wants to build robots and cybercabs instead.

He doesn't treat his workers well either and you don't cut carelessly cut critical government infrastructure and not expect subsequent disasters in the aftermath.

 

[HMF]

Around here, Disney leadership is cast as essentially a figurehead, completely unable to make any decisions whatsoever because of shareholders, the board, and Bob Iger,

or

The CEO is a tyrant who does whatever is expedient, with no checks or balances, and no regard for the company or its customers.

The truth as with most things is usually somewhere between the two extremes. Eisner's best and worst trait was how much involvement he had in the creative process. Iger was the opposite extreme in that while he had placed some ridiculous restrictions placed on Imagineering including the IP mandate and forcing out Star Wars movies before a quality story or outline could be written resulting in the disaster that was the Sequel Trilogy. He was largely TOO hands off with most of the projects, he did not come across as anything other than a cold businessman who would probably be a better politician than Disney CEO.

 

[DisneyCane]

This is why Walt had to constantly cast vision for how deeper near-term investment would have longer-term benefits.

He had to do it to get Disneyland built. And then, after its success, he did it again to bring in investors without losing creative control.

I think it’s still doable for Josh.

The stock market and investing was much different on the 1950s and 1960s than today. Walt would have a lot more trouble now with activist investors and quarterly pressure.

 

[DisneyCane]

This is why Walt had to constantly cast vision for how deeper near-term investment would have longer-term benefits.

He had to do it to get Disneyland built. And then, after its success, he did it again to bring in investors without losing creative control.

I think it’s still doable for Josh.

The stock market and investing was much different in the 1950s and 1960s than today. Walt would have a lot more trouble now with activist investors and quarterly pressure.

 

[DisneyCane]

From a business perspective he's moving Tesla away from building consumer vehicles, so I guess you could call that disrespecting customers if they wanted a new Tesla they could drive sometime in the future.

He wants to build robots and cybercabs instead.

He's more moving towards autonomous AI powered things. There is still an intention to have models of vehicles that customers purchase, they just might not have a steering wheel and pedals.

I will say that I've been incredibly impressed with my cybertruck supervised full self driving. It isn't perfect on local streets yet especially in congested areas when it sometimes waits too long to get to the lane it needs to but on the highway it is incredible. I'm mad max mode it drives more aggressively than I do and picks its way through gaps to maintain speed like a top level race car driver.

On local streets it slows to let ducks cross the road and always yields to pedestrians and bicyclists. I'm looking forward to unsupervised mode at least for highways hopefully within a year. Being able to snack and nap while it drives me to WDW from South Florida will make my trips even more enjoyable. Plus I'll be able to do one day round trips if that's all I have time for because I won't have to worry about falling asleep at the wheel on the way home.

 

[_caleb]

The stock market and investing was much different in the 1950s and 1960s than today. Walt would have a lot more trouble now with activist investors and quarterly pressure.

No doubt! I didn’t mean to imply that things haven’t changed, just that I think Josh could use the same approach– lead Disney with conviction and vision, and demonstrate to shareholders (and stakeholders) that it’s good for business.

 

[Ayla]

He's more moving towards autonomous AI powered things. There is still an intention to have models of vehicles that customers purchase, they just might not have a steering wheel and pedals.

I will say that I've been incredibly impressed with my cybertruck supervised full self driving. It isn't perfect on local streets yet especially in congested areas when it sometimes waits too long to get to the lane it needs to but on the highway it is incredible. I'm mad max mode it drives more aggressively than I do and picks its way through gaps to maintain speed like a top level race car driver.

On local streets it slows to let ducks cross the road and always yields to pedestrians and bicyclists. I'm looking forward to unsupervised mode at least for highways hopefully within a year. Being able to snack and nap while it drives me to WDW from South Florida will make my trips even more enjoyable. Plus I'll be able to do one day round trips if that's all I have time for because I won't have to worry about falling asleep at the wheel on the way home.

This post illustrates perfectly why I instinctually avoid the dumpsters with wheels.

 

[DisneyCane]

This post illustrates perfectly why I instinctually avoid the dumpsters with wheels.

Stats show that Teslas using FSD are 7x less likely to be involved in an accident than Teslas driven by humans. What you should be avoiding is the cars driven by humans who are staring at their phone texting and watching TikTok while driving 75 mph on the highway.

Also, it's a refrigerator with wheels not a dumpster. I've never seen a stainless steel dumpster.

 

[MisterPenguin]

What you should be avoiding is the cars driven by humans who are staring at their phone texting and watching TikTok while driving 75 mph on the highway.

FTFY!!

 

[Trauma]

Stats show that Teslas using FSD are 7x less likely to be involved in an accident than Teslas driven by humans. What you should be avoiding is the cars driven by humans who are staring at their phone texting and watching TikTok while driving 75 mph on the highway.

Also, it's a refrigerator with wheels not a dumpster. I've never seen a stainless steel dumpster.

People don’t understand until they experience it. Especially on the latest updates. It’s an interesting moment in time where the world has changed dramatically yet most people don’t even know it.

 

[Figments Friend]

Josh is at the Academy Awards tonight…!

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