Walt Disney Co. named its treasurer, Christine M. McCarthy, as
the entertainment giant's chief financial officer, succeeding James
Rasulo, who is stepping down Tuesday.
Kevin Mayer, who also had been considered a potential candidate
for the top finance job, was promoted to the new role of chief
strategy officer.
Disney announced Mr. Rasulo's resignation plans earlier this
month, roughly four months after he was passed over to be Chief
Executive Robert Iger's second-in-command. At the time, Mr. Rasulo
had been working without a contract since January.
In February, Thomas Staggs—who had run the company's parks and
resorts unit since 2010—was named chief operating officer,
positioning him as the leading candidate to become Disney's next
CEO.
Ms. McCarthy, who has been treasurer at the company for the past
15 years will report to Mr. Iger. Her experience before joining
Disney includes serving as financial chief of Imperial Bancorp from
1997 to 2000.
Mr. Mayer, formerly head of corporate strategy and business
development, will jointly report to Mr. Iger and Mr. Staggs. He has
been in his current role since 2005. In his new role, he will add
responsibility for areas including acquisitions, enterprise
information technology, innovation, brand and franchise management,
and global corporate alliances.
Mr. Iger said Mr. Mayer played an integral role in Disney's
acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm.
Mr. Iger has said he would step down at the end of his current
contract in June 2018, essentially giving Mr. Staggs three years to
prove to Disney's board that he is the best choice to succeed Mr.
Iger.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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