3. Michael Eisner

When you try more things, you fail at more things. I preface any discussion of Michael Eisner as Disney CEO with this statement. While many theme park tourists hiss at the very mention of his name, the former head of Paramount undeniably saved Disney from a grim fate.

Under Eisner and his President, Frank Wells, Disney stock spiked an unconscionable amount. In fact, over a 30-year period, its value increased by 8,943 percent. Eisner doesn’t get credit for the last decade of that, but it does reflect how well he positioned the company.

When Eisner and Wells arrived, they prioritized the monetization of existing assets. The strategy worked so well that it surprised the two outsiders who suddenly sat atop the Disney food chain. Wells famously stated, “Every time I open a door at this company, there's money behind it.”

Tragically, the situation changed when Wells died in a helicopter crash. One moment, he was skiing with Clint Eastwood. The next week, Eisner shed waves of tears while eulogizing Wells. At that time, Disney’s fortunes took a turn, as the President of Disney grounded Eisner, the CEO.

Still, the achievements under Eisner include Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and the reinvigoration of the company’s movie industry. Oh, and Disney bought ABC/ESPN, too. Eisner did a lot of good, enough to overlook the early struggles at Disneyland Paris and the abject failure of Disney California Adventure.

2. Robert Iger

Confession: When I started this article, I had every intention of listing Iger first. His resume absolutely merits that sort of recognition. He took over from Michael Eisner at a time of tremendous turmoil. Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew, had revolted and thrown the company into a civil war.

Iger has stated that he was acutely aware of his awkward situation when he ascended to CEO. He didn’t waste time in putting his stamp on his Disney tenure. Iger quickly befriended Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple and an enemy of Eisner. At the time, Disney had irritated Jobs so much that the Pixar deal had ended.

Somehow, the new CEO of Disney persuaded Jobs to sell his pride and joy, the computer animation movie studio. For a modest $7.1 billion, Pixar became a Disney property.

Not long afterward, Iger added Marvel into the fold for $4.24 billion, one of the most significant business acquisitions of the 21^st century. Later, George Lucas would ask for the Pixar deal before settling for the Marvel total of $4 billion.

For a little more than $15 billion, Iger completely reinvigorated the entire company. He added a robust set of new intellectual properties for the theme parks, movies, and television.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Iger purchased almost the entirety of Fox media assets. Yes, he paid a lot -- $71 billion – for the acquisition. However, he boosted the market cap of his company by nearly $100 billion in the process.

Finally, Iger turned around to use all of these assets to populate the fledgling Disney+ streaming service, which looks like another flawless triumph on his resume. Realistically, Iger’s tenure as CEO seems so remarkably successful that nobody could best it. And yet…

1. Roy O. Disney

Query: What’s a fair way to rank Roy Disney without his brother, Walt? The latter gentleman possessed the creative vision that drove the company to historic heights. But older brother, Roy, anchored Walt’s ideas with financial wisdom vast enough to sustain the business.

Many of Roy’s triumphs happened before the era of theme parks. He helped produce and finance Mickey Mouse cartoons and, later, the first full-length animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney’s entire film and television divisions only exist due to Roy Disney.

For that matter, the elder brother aided greatly in the construction of the Happiest Place on Earth. Then, after Walt died, Roy spearheaded the creation of Walt Disney World. Two men are most responsible for your love of The Walt Disney Company. Since only one of them ever held the title of CEO, Roy’s the clear choice as the best ever for the company.