Aaron LaBerge, Disney Entertainment and ESPN’s Chief Technology Officer, is leaving the company for a position as CTO at PENN Entertainment, which runs ESPN Bet, the sports media company’s licensed online sportsbook. According to an internal note from ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro and Disney Entertainment co-Chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, LaBerge will be responsible for directing technological strategy as a high-ranking executive in the company’s interactive division.
LaBerge’s departure is due to family-related personal reasons, and he will remain with Disney until June. He has been a key player in the development of Disney’s streaming services and the recent integration of advertising into Disney+. He has also been in charge of combining Hulu and Disney+ into a single streaming app, which was introduced last month.
LaBerge has played a key role in ESPN’s streaming services, including ESPN+, the upcoming sports streaming app co-owned by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox, as well as ESPN’s flagship streaming service, which is slated to launch in 2025. His departure adds to a growing list of experienced Disney executives who have left the company in recent years, including former CEO Bob Chapek, former streaming chief Kevin Mayer, former finance chief Christine McCarthy, former Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, former Disney general counsel Alan Braverman, former communications head Zenia Mucha, and former president of Walt Disney Pictures Sean Bailey.
A search for LaBerge’s successor is already underway, according to a source familiar with the matter who requested anonymity because the transition plan is confidential. Chris Lawson, Disney’s current executive vice president of content operations and one of LaBerge’s direct reports, will temporarily take over LaBerge’s responsibilities when he departs.
LaBerge joined Disney in the late 1990s as part of the company’s acquisition of Starwave, a company founded by Paul Allen that had partnered with ESPN before being fully acquired by Disney in 1998.
