Susan Arnold’s Replacement Announced! Here’s the Walt Disney Company’s New Chairman

The Walt Disney Company has found a new Chairman for the board to replace Susan Arnold whose fifteen-year term is coming to an end.

It appears to be a season of change for Disney, whether with the Disney Parks or the company itself. Just yesterday on January 10, 2023, the Disney Parks announced a list of perks for Disney, including free parking for Disney hotel Guests, complimentary PhotoPass services for select Walt Disney World Guests, and free photos for Disneyland Resort Guests, among more. Perhaps the most exciting for Disney Theme Park fans is that Disney is also removing the Park hopping restriction.

Read More: Disney Resort Lifting Park Hopper Restrictions

When it comes to the Walt Disney Company itself, where to begin ?

With the former CEO Bob Chapek ouster that swept the Disney community in late November 2022, Disney announced the return of Chapek’s predecessor, the more popular Bob Iger. Disney CEO Bob Iger then set about restructuring the company and putting into place organizational changes to allow for the company to correct some of the significant losses it had seen during Chapek’s era and decisions that were not quite as favorable as either investors or the company itself would have hoped.

Now, Disney has announced their next chairman of the board. Previously the executive chairman of Nike, Mike Parker, will be replacing Susan Arnold as her fifteen-year term draws to a close. With this announcement, it also officially stated it’s opposing activist investor Nelson Peltz’s attempt to join the board. The Walt Disney Company board will be reduced to 11 members after Arnold’s departure.

CNBC now broke the story, sharing the news on Twitter. Check it out:

BREAKING: The Walt Disney Company names Mark Parker as chairman; company also responds to letter from Trian's Nelson Peltz who is seeking a seat on its board https://t.co/v9cf5jAyov

— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) January 11, 2023

Read More: Who is Mark Parker? Meet Disney’s New Chairman

Journalist Scott Gustin also reported on the news, highlighting,

Disney says Parker will also chair a “newly created Succession Planning Committee of the Board, which will advise the Board on CEO succession planning, including review of internal and external candidates.”

Fans worldwide have been speculating about who Bob Iger’s successor will be this time, with a few different names turning up as front-runners. It will certainly be interesting to see how these changes play out for Disney in the long run.

We at Disney Fanatic will continue to report on all Disney news.