1:52 p.m. | Updated LOS ANGELES – Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, has signed a new contract that keeps him atop the world’s largest entertainment company until March 2015. But he will then move to a lesser role for a year before leaving Disney entirely, the company said Thursday.

Under the new contract – positioned by the Walt Disney Company as an effort to lock Mr. Iger up for as long as possible – Mr. Iger will gain the title of chairman in March of next year, succeeding John E. Pepper, who will step down after having served four years in that job. In March of 2015, Disney’s board will name a new chief executive and Mr. Iger will transition to executive chairman.

Mr. Iger will then leave Disney on June 30, 2016. He started his entertainment career at Disney-owned ABC in 1974. Mr. Iger will be 65 upon his departure; Disney’s mandatory retirement age for board members is 74.

Since chief executives are typically pulled from their corner offices kicking and screaming, attention is likely to focus on what Mr. Iger has planned for his long-term future. It has long been speculated that he has political ambitions, possibly in New York, where he grew up and worked early in his career.

Thursday’s announcement also raises the question of succession. Disney likes to promote from within and at the moment there appear to be two primary candidates to replace Mr. Iger: James A. Rasulo, Disney’s chief financial officer and former theme park chairman; and Thomas O. Staggs, currently theme park chairman and formerly C.F.O. (The two men switched roles at Mr. Iger’s behest in 2009.

Since becoming Disney’s chief executive in 2005, Mr. Iger has mostly kept the company sailing smoothly through a cluster of storms, chiefly the recession, which hammered television advertising sales and threatened the company’s theme parks.

Despite some messy quarters, Disney’s results for the last fiscal year were quite strong: Net income rose 20 percent, to $3.96 billion, from $3.31 billion. The company has outperformed the Standard Poor’s index by five times since Mr. Iger took over.

Mr. Iger’s accomplishments include the acquisitions of Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Entertainment and securing approval from the Chinese government (after decades of efforts) for a sprawling theme park in Shanghai. ESPN, a Disney unit, continues to surge and other cable properties, notably ABC Family, have also picked up considerable momentum.

But there is plenty of work still to do. Disney has been inconsistent when it comes to adapting to new technology – on the one had becoming the first media company to make television shows available on iTunes and on the other struggling to turn around its unprofitable online division. ABC needs to find new hits, and a turnaround at Disney’s movie studio is still a work in progress.

The new contract, which replaces one that still had two years before expiring, contains notable changes to Mr. Iger’s compensation. His base annual salary will increase by 25 percent, to $2.5 million, with a higher annual bonus target. But unlike his previous contract, this one does not provide an upfront stock-option grant as an additional signing bonus; the previous contract provided one valued at $25 million.

Mr. Iger’s salary and bonus last year was about $16 million. His total compensation, including equity awards, was about $28 million, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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