Dana Walden

Dana Walden serves as President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company, a role she assumed on March 18, 2026. She leads Disney's Entertainment segment, overseeing Disney's world-class streaming services, industry leading film and award-winning television businesses, and rapidly expanding gaming and digital entertainment operations. Walden is responsible for guiding creative strategy across the company's entertainment touchpoints to deliver the world's most beloved storytelling to fans across the many ways they choose to enjoy it.

Walden holds a bachelor's degree in communication from USC, having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in communications in 1986. After graduation, Walden joined Bender, Goldman & Helper as a publicity assistant to Larry Goldman. In 1989, she joined Arsenio Hall Communications (a division of Paramount Network Television) as vice president of marketing, and in 1991, became a vice president of publicity in 20th Century Fox Television.

Career History

• Co-President and later President and CEO of 20th Century Fox Television (1999 onwards)
• Chairwoman and CEO of Fox Television Group (2014–2019)
• Chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment (2019–2022)
• Chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content (June 2022–February 2023)
• Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment (February 2023–March 2026)

Walden's career is marked by exceptional achievement in television and streaming. During her tenure at Fox Television Group, Fox Broadcasting Company catapulted from fourth place to first. Over the span of her career, programming launched with her at the helm garnered 1,200+ awards, including more than 400 Emmy® wins and the record for the most Emmys won by a single company in one year. In 2025, she received the Producers Guild of America Milestone Award and became the first executive to be honored with the International Emmy Founders Award in more than two decades. She has been consistently recognized among the most influential business leaders, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business and being named to Fortune and Forbes' Most Powerful Women lists.

What Dana Walden could bring to President and Chief Creative Officer at The Walt Disney Company: With three decades of leadership spanning Fox's transformation and Disney's entertainment portfolio, Walden brings unparalleled expertise in content development, network strategy, and streaming profitability. She led Disney+ and Hulu to profitability by creating an integrated entertainment ecosystem—tightly aligning the company's linear and streaming strategies and positioning the business for long-term growth. Her track record of launching and nurturing award-winning programming franchises positions her to drive creative excellence across Disney's expanded entertainment operations while navigating the evolving media landscape.