They’re close friends—and stars in America’s biggest succession dramas
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Around 2004, a rising TV executive named Dana Walden began calling politically connected friends to let them know about a hot new prospect. She wasn’t talking about a star or script.
She was talking about a little-known district attorney in San Francisco, her friend Kamala Harris. When Walden asked her Hollywood pals to donate to Harris’s political campaign, some asked why they should care about a DA race nearly 400 miles away. You may not think you care, she told them, but she is going to be a national figure someday.
Over the next two decades, the two friends rose to the upper echelons of their careers while staying close during million-dollar fundraisers, a life-changing blind date and New Year’s Eve parties. Now the two women, both 60 years old, born seven days apart, find themselves in remarkably similar situations amid two high-stakes succession dramas. Both are auditioning for big promotions—Harris for president of the United States and Walden for chief executive of Disney.
Both would be the first women to serve in those roles, and both of their trajectories have been complicated by older bosses reluctant to leave the stage. Harris is barnstorming through swing states in the home stretch of her truncated campaign to replace President Biden, while Disney said last week it wouldn’t name a replacement for Walden’s boss, CEO Bob Iger, until early 2026. Friendships between high-powered business executives and politicians are a mainstay of elections, where influence and deep pockets can help attract critical votes.
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