Disney hires Goldman Sachs alum Michael Cerda to serve as VP of product for Disney+
In the latest hiring shakeup at Disney, Goldman Sachs' alum Michael Cerda has been brought on board to serve as VP of product for Disney+. Cerda previously held the position of chief product officer at Goldman Sachs’ Marcus online consumer bank division. He will be heading the consumer experience side for the upcoming streaming platform which is slated to launch in the US on November 12 at an aggressive initial price point of $6.99 per month. He will be working from the Disney Streaming Services’ San Francisco office and will also be available in New York when needed.
Cerda has previously worked at Live Nation Entertainment, Facebook and Vevo and will be reporting to Jerrell Jimerson, SVP of product management, user experience (UX), and design for Disney Streaming Services. "Under Michael, the Disney+ team will drive the product strategy, partnering closely with the engineering, marketing, business development, and content organizations to drive the rapid growth of the Disney+ service around the world," Jimerson reportedly said in an internal statement.
Cerda worked at Sachs for two years. He joined in January 2017 and was heading the product design for Marcus. At Live Nation, he was the chief experience officer for about a year. Before this stint, he worked at Facebook as their media products head and was crucial in the launch of products for the company like the Facebook Live video. He served as SVP at Vevo.
Disney has been building its muscles for the launch faster than ever since the Fox merger that concluded earlier this year. The acquisition brought Fox and its assets under the leadership of Walt Disney for a staggering $71 billion. A lot of moves, resignations, and pink slips have been handed out since then. Cerda joins the company after the recent addition of Shannon Ryan who was recently named the new President of Marketing ABC Entertainment & Disney TV Studios.