Bob Iger Steps Down as Disney CEO Tomorrow — and Lucasfilm Became One of His Biggest Franchise Bets

Bob Iger is set to step down as Disney CEO in March 2026, with Disney naming Josh D’Amaro as his successor. Reuters reported that D’Amaro will take over in March, while Iger will remain a senior adviser through the end of the year.

For Star Wars fans, that makes this more than just a Disney boardroom story. Iger was the CEO who pushed Disney to acquire Lucasfilm in 2012 for about $4.05 billion, a deal Disney announced officially at the time as a major long-term franchise play.

Lucasfilm Was One of the Defining Iger Moves

When people look back at the Iger era, Lucasfilm is going to be one of the first things they mention.

Under Iger, Disney did not just buy Star Wars. It turned Lucasfilm into one of the company’s most important franchise engines across films, streaming, merchandise, and theme-park strategy. Disney’s 2024 proxy-fight materials, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, said Lucasfilm had generated nearly $12 billion in value to Disney. That figure is often repeated online as straight revenue or box office, but the reporting specifically framed it as value created for the company.

The Star Wars Era Under Iger Was Huge — and Messy

That Lucasfilm run included some enormous highs.

Under Disney, Lucasfilm released The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, Solo, The Rise of Skywalker, and later Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, while Star Wars also became a major Disney+ pillar through shows like The Mandalorian. Disney’s own annual report highlights Star Wars as one of the top branded content pillars inside Disney+.

But it was never a completely smooth ride. The sequel trilogy became one of the most argued-over eras in Star Wars fandom, Solo underperformed compared with earlier Disney-era Star Wars films, and Lucasfilm’s theatrical pipeline slowed down after 2019. That last point is an inference based on the release record and the gap in Star Wars theatrical films after The Rise of Skywalker.

Why This Matters for Star Wars Fans Now

The timing matters because Disney is moving into a new leadership phase just as Star Wars is trying to rebuild momentum on the movie side.

Josh D’Amaro inherits Disney as Lucasfilm continues to push major Star Wars projects across Disney+ and theatrical development. Reuters described D’Amaro’s appointment as the start of the post-Iger era, with Disney positioning him to lead the company through its next franchise cycle.

For Lucasfilm, that means Iger’s legacy is already mostly written. He was the executive who brought Star Wars fully into Disney, backed its transformation into a modern franchise machine, and oversaw the period in which Lucasfilm created nearly $12 billion in value for the company, according to Disney’s own materials as reported by trade coverage.

The End of an Era, Even if Iger Is Not Fully Gone Yet

So yes, Bob Iger stepping down tomorrow is a Disney corporate story. But for Star Wars fans, it also feels like the end of a very specific chapter.

This was the CEO era that bought Lucasfilm, launched the sequel films, put Star Wars at the center of Disney+, and helped turn the franchise into one of Disney’s biggest long-term assets. Whether fans loved every creative choice or not, the scale of that impact is hard to argue with. Reuters says Iger is expected to stay on as senior adviser through the rest of 2026, so he is not disappearing entirely, but the CEO handoff itself is still a big line in the sand.

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