Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said Thursday that he is preparing to join a succession planning committee at Disneywhich will advise the board on the selection of CEO Bob Iger's successor.
Gorman is expected to step down as CEO of Morgan Stanley on January 1. He will join the Disney board in February.
Disney announced last month that Gorman was joining the company's board of directors. The announcement also included the appointment of former Sky TV boss Jeremy Darroch from January.
The move was seen as a way to avoid a proxy fight between activist fund Trian and its boss Nelson Peltz, although Trian expressed dissatisfaction with the appointments in a statement. Trian said they will push for Peltz and former Disney executive Jay Rasulo to join the board.
Gorman was praised for how he managed the succession process at Morgan Stanley.
“Disney is forming a succession committee that I will join,” Gorman told CNBC's David Faber. “I don’t start as a director until February.” He added: “But I have tremendous experience in managing succession here on the Morgan Stanley board.”
Gorman also noted that he has dealt with activist investors before. “We’ve had a lot of fights in my life,” he said of the Disney proxy fight. “That doesn’t bother me one bit.”
Disney said Gorman was referring to the succession committee the company announced in January. The company announced last month that Gorman would join the board in a securities filing.
After the tumultuous tenure of his hand-picked successor Bob Chapek, Disney reappointed Iger as CEO in November 2022. Before ending his previous term as CEO, Iger extended his contract several times. In July, the company extended Iger's contract until 2026.
The company has faced a number of headwinds in recent years, including box office declines and streaming losses. Earlier this year, Iger reorganized the company, laying off 7,000 employees while trying to cut costs by $7.5 billion.
Tune in: “CNBC Leaders: James Gorman” airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on CNBC.