Thomas O. Staggs Named COO of The Walt Disney Company

On February 5, Thomas O. Staggs has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO) of The Walt Disney Company as it was announced by Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer lately. As chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Staggs already oversees the strategy, operations and creative development of the company’s travel and leisure businesses. He will assume the role of COO immediately, while continuing to lead Parks and Resorts until a successor is named. Except from the Chief Financial Officer, the General Counsel, the Chief Communications Officer and the Chief Human Resources Officer, who will continue to report to Bob Iger directly, Disney’s senior management team will report jointly to Bob Iger and Thomas Staggs. Since 2010, Staggs has led Parks and Resorts’ global team and overseen the development of Shanghai Disney Resort and the new Avatar-themed land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as well as the realization of many other theme park projects in the US and worldwide.

Staggs has worked for Disney since 1990, where he stared as Manager of Strategic Planning and rapidly took on various positions with increasing responsibility, leading to his appointment as Chief Financial Officer in 1998. Previously, Staggs worked as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley & Co. (eap)