Dana Walden is President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company. 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. She 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.
Previously, Walden served as Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, where she oversaw Disney’s global portfolio of entertainment media, news and content businesses, and shared oversight of the company’s direct-to-consumer, technology, and advertising groups. 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. And internationally, she helped drive Disney’s streaming evolution by unifying regional operations, investing in key markets and delivering breakout international hits.
Walden joined Disney in 2019, following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, initially serving as chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment, followed by chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content. Before joining Disney, Walden spent 25 years at 21st Century Fox and was elevated to chairman and CEO of Fox Television Group, which included Fox Broadcasting Company, 20th Century Fox Television, Fox 21 Television Studios, Fox Consumer Products and 20th Television. During her tenure, 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. She has brought audiences all over the world a wide range of iconic content, including fan-favorite shows “24,” “Glee,” “Homeland,” “Modern Family” and “This Is Us”; enduring franchises like “9-1-1,” “American Horror Story” and “The Simpsons”; unscripted stalwarts like “American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Kardashians”; beloved children’s programming like “Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends” and “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”; award-winning international titles like “Moving” and “Rivals”; and current breakout hits “Abbott Elementary,” “Alien: Earth,” “High Potential,” “Love Story,” “Paradise” and “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”
Walden’s leadership has been widely recognized. 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. Walden has also received the National Association of Television Program Executive’s Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award and was named MIPCOM’s Personality of the Year. She serves on the boards of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Saban Community Clinic in Los Angeles and is a member of USC’s President’s Leadership Council. Walden holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from USC.