Disney Execs Zenia Mucha and Alan Braverman to Retire
Longtime Disney executives will retire in 2021 following Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger’s footsteps.
Bob Iger is retiring at the end of 2021. This will lead to many executives to either retire or move on from The Walt Disney Company.
Disney’s Chief Communications Officer Zenia Mucha and Disney’s Senior Executive VP and General Counsel Alan Braverman are set to retire at the end of 2021. Mucha and Braverman will stick around to “to effect a smooth transition.”
Braverman has been Disney’s general counsel since 2003 and has spent decades with the company. Braverman was a partner in a law firm before joining Capital Cities/ABC in 1993. Mucha has been with Disney since 2001. Before Disney, Mucha worked in politics with the likes of New York Gov. George Pataki and former New York Senator Alfonse D’Amato.
Variety obtained a email from Bob Iger and Bob Chapek announcing the news:
Dear Fellow Employee,
Disney’s many accomplishments over its nearly century-long history have been the result of teamwork from a cadre of great people, whose talents, wisdom, and hard work have enabled the Company to soar to commercial and creative heights. And few have had greater impact as members of this world-class team than Alan Braverman, our General Counsel, and Zenia Mucha, our Chief Communications Officer. We were both fortunate to work closely with Alan and Zenia for more than two decades, and are enormously grateful for their partnership, invaluable advice, and friendship — which is why it is bittersweet to share the news that they have decided to retire from the Company after their contracts expire at the end of 2021.
Alan and Zenia have made an indelible impact on the Company, playing integral roles in Disney’s expansion and transformation into the digital age while cementing its reputation as one of the world’s most highly regarded companies. Alan, from a legal and regulatory perspective, and Zenia, from a strategic communications perspective, have played a pivotal role in many of the Company’s most transformative business deals, projects, and strategic initiatives, including the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox, the establishment of the Company’s first theme park in Mainland China, Shanghai Disney Resort, the launch of our direct-to-consumer business with Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Star, as well as various environmental and philanthropic endeavors.
As General Counsel, Alan has served as our chief legal officer, overseeing a team of attorneys responsible for all aspects of the Company’s legal affairs around the world, including public policy and government relations. Since joining Disney in 1995 as part of the Capital Cities/ABC acquisition, he has developed and directed the Company’s legal strategy. Equally important, he has been a key advocate of Disney’s inclusion efforts, implementing programs to recruit and promote diverse legal talent. Alan is also a champion of skills-based volunteerism and launched a pro bono program under which Disney lawyers have donated more than 20,000 hours to efforts serving a variety of underrepresented communities.
Zenia has been the Chief Communications Officer since 2002, responsible for overseeing all global communications for the Company and its business segments. Among her innumerable contributions, she oversaw the creation of the first-ever official Disney fan club, D23, which now serves more than one million members in all 50 states and 100 countries. She also launched the bi-annual D23 Expo: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, and the award-winning quarterly magazine, Disney twenty-three. Because of her, the Company has a strong, enduring network of support from fans worldwide.
One of the most rewarding aspects of our tenure at Disney has been the opportunity to work with so many incredibly talented and generous people, and Zenia and Alan are foremost among them — both have been steadfast, independent-minded, passionate about their work, generous with their wisdom, and thoroughly unselfish. There will be opportunities to celebrate them and their storied careers before they depart early next year. But, given the tremendous impact they have had, we wanted to take this opportunity in the wake of their decision to thank them personally for their singular contributions to our Company and, most important, for their support and friendship.
Bob Iger and Bob Chapek
As Zenia Mucha and Alan Braverman retire, this allows Disney CEO Bob Chapek the opportunity to pick out his own team.
Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
