Walt Disney Co. is preparing to vote on promoting Josh D’Amaro, chairman of its experiences division, to chief executive officer, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The decision could conclude a three-year search led by Disney Chairman James Gorman, who previously oversaw a successful CEO transition at Morgan Stanley. The board could still change its mind.

D’Amaro, 54, joined Disney in 1998 after a career at Gillette and rose through the theme-park ranks, holding leadership roles at resorts in California, Hong Kong, and Florida. As head of the experiences division, he is managing a 60 billion US dollars investment in resort expansions, plans to nearly double Disney’s cruise fleet, and a 1.5 billion US dollars stake in Fortnite publisher Epic Games. The unit he oversees accounts for the majority of Disney’s profits.

The CEO search has included Disney’s four divisional chiefs: D’Amaro, entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, and sports chair Jimmy Pitaro. The process began after Bob Iger returned as CEO in 2022, following the tumultuous tenure of Bob Chapek, who had been Iger’s handpicked successor.

In a post on X, D’Amaro said the company enters 2026 “lighter, cleaner and better prepared for the recapitalisation era and serious growth.” He highlighted the resilience of the business under his leadership, noting that the experiences division had delivered significant revenue while managing substantial investments.

Disney will report fiscal first-quarter earnings on Monday. In a regulatory filing in January, the company confirmed plans to appoint a successor in early 2026 and scheduled its annual shareholder meeting for March 18. By comparison, when Iger stepped down in 2020, Chapek was announced roughly two weeks before that year’s meeting.

During his first tenure, Iger’s contract extensions delayed the emergence of executives seen as potential heirs, while the return of a CEO he selected triggered competition among the current divisional chiefs.