Bob Iger admits Disney did not vet Chapek hard enough

Bob Iger says Disney thought it knew Bob Chapek too well to question the choice.

The former chief executive made the admission in an interview with former Harvard Business School dean Nitin Nohria, published by Harvard Business Review and reported by Variety on 24 September 2026. It is his frankest account yet of a succession drama that has run for six years.

Chapek, a former parks executive, took over as chief executive in February 2020 as Iger's chosen successor. Disney's board ousted Chapek in November 2022 and brought Iger back. Iger then stepped down in March and handed the role to former parks head Josh D'Amaro.

Iger said the 2019-2020 process to pick his first successor was perhaps not as thorough as thought. The reason was simple. They believed they knew the person extremely well.

That lesson shaped the next search. Iger said leadership now needs to be capable of managing an environment in perpetual crisis. That puts more emphasis on stamina.

He listed four tests used when choosing his successor in February. Is he resilient? Does he have stamina? Does he choose a good team? Can he call a real crisis what it is but deal with it in a reasonable and sane and steady, mature way?

D'Amaro, 54 when tapped, fitted that brief, according to Reuters. Iger was 74 at the time. D'Amaro was due to take over at the company's annual investor meeting on 18 March, with Iger staying on through the end of 2026 as a senior adviser.

Iger left a letter for his successor around the handover, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. He also told staff D'Amaro was inheriting Disney in good shape and that it was not a crisis situation. D'Amaro thanked Iger at the shareholders meeting for setting a "standard for creativity, integrity, and ambition."

Chapek is now preparing his own version. He is promoting the upcoming book "Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth," set to detail his side of the failed succession.

Iger had led Disney as chief executive since 2005 before the first handover. During that first run he used Disney's treasury to buy Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm.

What makes this stand out is the candour. Chief executives rarely describe a hiring mistake in public. Iger has now done it twice over: once by reversing it, and again by explaining it.