Disney to have separate heads for Asia and India businesses

Disney has announced a new leadership structure in Asia, following the departure of Uday Shankar as chairman of its Asia business.  The region's leadership structure will now include a head of APAC and a separate head of India. Both executives will report to Rebecca Campbell, chairman, international operations and direct-to-consumer for the company. 

As part of this shift, Disney has appointed Luke Kang as president, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and he will oversee the company's businesses in Australia/New Zealand, Greater China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.  A leader for the Company's India business will be named in early 2021.

In his new role, Kang will drive the strategy and growth of the company in this region. He will oversee Disney's media networks, direct-to-consumer offerings including Disney+, media distribution and motion picture businesses, as well as other operations across APAC (excluding Disney parks). Most recently, Kang served as executive vice president and managing director, for Disney in Greater China, Japan and Korea, overseeing all of the firm's businesses in the area.

Between 2016 – 2018, Disney was the number one studio at the Chinese box office releasing more films than any other foreign studio with six record-breaking movies exceeding the RMB 1 Billion box office target.  "I look forward to driving the company's business in Asia Pacific as we continue to evolve rapidly in order to engage our consumers across multiple touchpoints," said Kang. 

In 2014 Mr. Kang moved to China as managing director, Disney Consumer Products and Disney Interactive, Greater China. He managed two key business units inclusive of Consumer Products, Disney Stores China, Publishing, E-Commerce and Disney Interactive which included mobile, online, gaming and all franchise marketing.  He first joined Disney in 2011 as managing director, for the South Korea unit, based in Seoul.