Founder, Co-Chief Executive, Candle Media
Staggs is a founder and co-chief executive of Candle Media, a West Hollywood media content creator for film and television. Like his business partner, Kevin Mayer, Staggs is a former executive at The Walt Disney Co., serving as its chief operating officer. Prior to that, he was chair of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide after having been Disney’s chief financial officer for nearly 12 years. As chair of Disney Parks, Staggs more than doubled operating profits while overseeing the company’s roughly 140,000 cast members. While at Disney, he helped lead the purchases of Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, and Cap Cities/ABC. Staggs is a partner at Smash Capital Advisors LP, a Los Angeles private equity firm, and serves as a member of the Spotify board of directors. He also served as a member of the board of directors at Euro Disney SCA from 2002 until 2015 and as a member of the board of advisors of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Staggs received his BS in business from the University of Minnesota and his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
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