Disney picks Nike executive chairman to helm the entertainment giant's board

The Walt Disney Company has picked Nike executive chairman Mark Parker to become the next chairman of its board, it announced Wednesday.

Parker’s assumption of the role will come after the company’s annual shareholder meeting, according to a press release from Disney. That date has not been released yet.

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The current board chair, Susan Arnold, is subject to the board’s 15-year term-limit policy. With her not standing for re-election, the board’s size will shrink to 11, Disney said.

Parker, an independent director, has been Nike’s executive chairman since 2020. Prior to that, he was the footwear and apparel company’s CEO for more than a decade. 

Additionally, he will lead the Disney board’s succession planning committee created to "advise the Board on CEO succession planning, including review of internal and external candidates," the company said. The process of finding Disney’s next CEO, Parker said in the release, "has already begun."

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CEO Bob Iger said in a statement he "look[s] forward to continuing working with him [Parker] in his new role, along with our other directors, as we chart the future course for this amazing company." He also offered his thanks to Arnold for her "superb leadership" and "tireless work."

Iger returned to Disney to become CEO for two years in November, having previously held the title from 2005 to 2020 and served as executive chairman through 2021. He took over the chief executive role from longtime company exec Bob Chapek, who had helmed the company since February 2020, not long before the pandemic prompted lockdowns around the globe.

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The board mandated for Iger to "set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the board in developing a successor to lead the company at the completion of his term."

In the release announcing Parker’s election, Disney also urged shareholders to not support activist investor Nelson Peltz’s bid to become a director on the board and instead vote for the incumbents it submitted for re-election.

Peltz co-founded Trian Fund Management L.P. The firm’s stake in Disney is less than 5%, according to Reuters.