Walt Disney Company Assigns Luke KANG As Head Of Asia-Pacific, Excluding India
Source: Disney, Yahoo, Variety, MSN, Pitchonnet, internet
Luke KANG has been assigned president of the Walt Disney Company for the Asia-Pacific region, as a Disney veteran, he will report to Rebecca Campbell, chairman of international operations and direct-to-consumer, will oversee the company’s business in Australia/New Zealand, Greater China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. A new India head seems will be announced near the new year.
About 2 months ago, the company announced the departure of Uday Shankar, president of Disney Asia-Pacific and chairman of Star and Disney India, which becomes effective from Dec. 31.
First joined Disney in 2011 as managing director for the company in South Korea, based in Seoul, Luke’s current role includes Disney’s media networks, direct-to-consumer offerings including Disney Plus, media distribution, and motion picture businesses, as well as other operations across Asia-Pacific, excluding Disney theme parks.
At present, he is executive VP and managing director of Disney for the North Asia grouping of Greater China, Japan, and Korea, with direct country management of mainland China and Japan.
Luke has been in his current position since a split of Disney’s Asia business into North and South divisions in April 2017, and then another reshuffle in April 2019 at which time Shankar promoted many of his Fox executives.
“With his deep understanding of our businesses in the Asia Pacific, Luke is ideally suited to lead our efforts in the region. He has played a critical role in transforming our business in Asia, optimizing operations, developing successful new revenue streams, and rapidly moving to roll out Disney Plus. I’m confident that he and our extended team will deliver even more value as we continue to manage and grow Disney’s DTC and media businesses in the region,” said Campbell in a statement.
At the beginning of 2021, Rebecca Campbell will name a separate India head, she made the announcement to staff. In the interim period, the India business will be headed by K Madhavan, head of Star, and Sunil Ryan, head of Disney Plus Hotstar India, with both reporting directly to her.
