Susan Arnold was named chairman of the board of Walt Disney Co on Wednesday, making her the first woman to be Disney’s first woman chair in the company’s 98-year history.
Arnold, who has been on the board for 14 years, will take over from Bob Iger on Dec. 31.
Iger served as Disney’s CEO for 15 years until stepping down in the year 2020. He will leave the firm at the end of this month. Then at Disney, Susan Arnold will officially become the first woman chair.
Arnold’s appointment comes at a time when large corporations are moving away from an organizational structure in which the same person holds both CEO and chairperson roles. It is a result of a push by corporate-governance experts, shareholders, in some cases, regulators to separate the two roles.
Arnold was previously an operating officer with the Carlyle Group, a private equity investment firm. She has also worked with Procter & Gamble and McDonald’s Corporation earlier.
Alan Horn, the president, and Gary Marsh, the chief creative officer of Disney Branded Television, and Alan Braverman, the corporate general counsel are among the Disney execs who have declared plans to leave by the end of the year 2021.