According to Fortune, Jeff Williams, the former Apple COO who retired on November 15 after 27 years, has been nominated to join The Walt Disney Company’s board of directors. Williams, who stepped down from his COO role in July and was once seen as Tim Cook’s heir apparent, will stand for election as an independent director at Disney’s 2026 annual shareholders meeting, likely in March or April. The nomination, made by board chairman James Gorman, would expand Disney’s board from 10 to 11 members, which already includes figures like GM CEO Mary Barra and Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald. Disney is currently investing heavily in AI, mixed-reality, and streaming tech, having established an Office of Technology Enablement. Williams is credited with launching the Apple Watch and architecting Apple’s health strategy, and he played a key role in saving the first iPhone launch in 2007 from disaster.
Disney’s tech ambition meets Apple operational muscle
This isn’t just a nice retirement gig for a tech exec. It’s a deeply strategic move by Disney at a critical moment. Look, Bob Iger has been talking non-stop about transforming Disney+ into “a portal to all things Disney” using AI, and the company is pouring resources into tech-enabled personalization and mixed-reality experiences. Who better to advise on that than the guy who helped scale Apple’s hardware empire and oversaw its design team after Jony Ive left? Williams isn’t just a product guy; he ran Apple’s entire global supply chain and operations. For a company like Disney, which has a massive physical footprint in parks and a sprawling digital supply chain for content, that operational expertise is pure gold.
A board built for a fight
Let’s look at the board Disney is assembling. You’ve got Mary Barra from GM (industrial scale), Calvin McDonald from Lululemon (direct-to-consumer brand magic), and now Jeff Williams from Apple (the pinnacle of integrated tech hardware, software, and services). This is a board engineered for a modern corporate war. They’re not just thinking about the next animated hit; they’re building a bench to tackle logistics, direct consumer relationships, and technological integration. The company’s tech strategy is clearly aiming to reshape engagement and monetization, and this board lineup screams execution. It’s a signal to investors and competitors that Disney is serious about operational excellence, not just creative storytelling.
The Apple playbook at the Magic Kingdom?
Here’s the thing: Williams’ experience at the “intersection of technology, global operations and product design,” as Gorman put it, is the exact recipe Apple used to dominate. Disney’s biggest challenges now are integrating its streaming services, making parks more digitally immersive, and creating seamless customer experiences. Sound familiar? It’s the ecosystem play. Apple’s genius was making hardware, software, and services work so well together you never want to leave. Disney wants that same sticky, holistic relationship with its customers, whether they’re watching at home or riding a ride. Williams has literally lived that playbook for decades. His insight into how Apple managed its design-to-supply-chain pipeline could be revolutionary for a company that makes everything from movie props to industrial panel PCs for ride control systems, where reliability and integration are paramount.
Succession and signals
This move also casts an interesting light on the succession plans for both companies. Williams was the long-presumed next CEO of Apple, but that didn’t happen. Now, he’s joining a board that is actively leading the search for Iger’s successor, with an announcement expected in early 2026. Is Williams being brought in as a potential candidate? Probably not directly, but his presence on the board will undoubtedly influence the criteria for the next CEO. Disney is signaling that the next leader needs to understand tech and operations at a fundamental level. Meanwhile, over at Apple, Sabih Khan has smoothly taken over as COO, showing the depth of their bench. Williams’ quick move to Disney shows that for top-tier execs, “retirement” really just means applying their playbook to a new, fascinating challenge. The 2026 shareholder vote is a formality; his influence is already being felt.
