CNN
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Disney is about to welcome its fourth chief executive in just over three years as the company continues to navigate ongoing turmoil in the media industry.

Chief Executive Mark Parker will step down at the end of the year, the company announced Monday. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman will replace Parker starting in 2025.

“I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to serve as chairman of Disney at this important moment in the company’s history,” Gorman said in a statement.

Parker, a board member for nine years, took on the role of chair just last year, replacing Susan Arnold, who served in the role for just over a year until her term expired. Arnold served on Disney's board for a decade and a half.

Some of the decisions Gorman will be tasked with include: replacing Bob Iger as CEO. The company also announced that a successor to Iger will be named in early 2026. Iger returned as CEO last year after a brief hiatus. Gorman said Monday that choosing a new CEO is “critically important” and the announcement of the timing reflects progress on Disney's decision to replace Iger.

Parker said in making the announcement that replacing Iger would be among his top priorities. Instead, Parker and the board quickly extended Iger's contract through 2026. Although Iger said he would not stay with the company for more than two years in his final term, the extension meant he will serve as CEO for at least four years in his second term .

Gorman currently serves as chairman of Disney's Succession Planning Committee, which is responsible for the CEO search. But that has proven difficult as Disney navigates troubled waters: The film industry is faltering as people increasingly stream shows and movies online, but Disney's streaming business only recently became profitable. And as linear television continues to decline, the future of ESPN, ABC and other networks weighs heavily on Iger and Disney.

Meanwhile, Disney flagged somewhat weak spending by visitors to its U.S. parks in its most recent earnings report, which the company blamed on economic turmoil.

The company said Gorman will prove to be a valuable leader to help Disney navigate all of this.

“James Gorman is a valued leader who has become an invaluable voice on the Disney Board since joining earlier this year, and I am extremely pleased that he has agreed to take on the role of Chairman following my departure.” Parker said in a statement. “With his extensive experience, James is expertly leading the comprehensive search process for a new CEO, who remains a top priority for the Board.”

With the announcement of his seemingly ever-imminent departure from Disney, Iger has become a CEO “crying wolf.”

In his first term as Disney CEO, Iger extended his contract several times and defied promises to resign – until he finally did so a month before the pandemic swept the globe and shuttered companies around the world, including Disney. Iger was replaced in early 2020 by another Bob, Bob Chapek, whose disastrous tenure at Disney was marked by strategic missteps and PR disasters.

Chapek remained in office for less than three years. His successor: Iger, who promised to resign quickly at the end of 2022 as soon as a successor was named.

Still, Iger scored several victories during his final term: He helped negotiate a massive labor dispute with directors, actors and writers. He crushed a multi-faceted board fight. And he finally made Disney+ profitable.

But Iger made himself indispensable and turned Disney around after a terrible past. The stock (DIS) has recovered (somewhat) this year, and Disney is once again the darling of traditional media companies – although that's not exactly a group anyone wants to be a part of, as Hollywood, streaming and television are struggling TikTok, YouTube and, the biggest direct competitor of all, Netflix.

Iger now says he has sorted things out and is focused on building the Disney of the future. But it may be premature to declare mission accomplished. On the same May day that Disney finally announced its streaming earnings, the company's stock had its worst day in half a year due to the gloomy outlook. Then, in August, Disney posted a strong quarter … but sent Wall Street into a panic when it said park profits were tepid.

So Iger's work to fix Disney isn't quite finished yet.