Rita Ferro

Rita Ferro was born and raised in Miami, the daughter of Cuban immigrants who reached the United States shortly before 1959, she told CNBC. After graduating from Florida International University (FIU), she moved to New York hoping to become a copywriter, but soon found she was better suited to sales and fundraising.

She got her start in media advertising at MTV Latin America in the early 1990s, before the channel's official launch in the region. Her knowledge of Latin America and her Spanish helped her land a job at Disney, where she has spent close to three decades in roles at ESPN International, Disney's Kids and Family networks and Disney Interactive.

Ferro became Disney's president of U.S. advertising in 2018 and took over the global business in 2023, overseeing ad sales across TV, streaming and sports, including Disney+, Hulu and ESPN. In November 2026 she received the Legacy of Excellence Award at ¡HOLA!'s Latina Powerhouse 100 Gala in Miami.