Bob Iger's Disney Wanted Apple, Twitter, and 007 (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0184068894
- News link: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/26/06/24/170227/bob-igers-disney-wanted-apple-twitter-and-007
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/streaming/955646/disney-bob-iger-twitter-james-bond-apple-merger
> According to Iger, Disney came close to buying Twitter from co-founder Jack Dorsey "at a very attractive price," sometime prior to Elon Musk buying the social media platform in 2022 and changing its name to X. Iger had plans to turn Twitter into a global distribution platform for Disney, but walked away on the morning of the deal over concerns that it would be "a horrible distraction."
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> Disney was also at one point involved in early conversations regarding a potential merger with Apple, something Iger thinks would have been "truly transformational." In the end, Iger says these conversations "never went anywhere," and that "Apple didn't show that much interest." The two companies have a mixed history -- Iger was an Apple board member from 2011 to 2019, and notably a driving force behind Disney acquiring Pixar in 2006, which was led by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs at the time. According to Iger, his first call with Jobs resulted in an almost immediate deal to put Disney content on the first video iPod. "All of a sudden, I'm now someone Steve likes and respects," Iger told The Financial Times. "The old Disney that he knew was lumbering in terms of bureaucracy. And so he thought, this is a new day."
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> The Pixar acquisition spurred Iger to find more companies to bring under Disney's wing, though not every attempt was successful. "We felt unstoppable. We put together a list of acquisition targets," said Iger. "Marvel was one, Star Wars was another, James Bond was one. We had a list and I figured let's just tick them off and buy them all." Iger provides no details about Disney's attempt to buy the James Bond franchise, but we know it obviously failed -- Amazon bought the 007 distribution rights when it acquired MGM in 2022, and later paid more than $1 billion to take full creative control of the franchise in February 2025.
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/460389f9-3d72-4fed-9dd4-bbc3209c88b0
[2] https://www.theverge.com/streaming/955646/disney-bob-iger-twitter-james-bond-apple-merger
The minnow thinks it can swallow the whale (Score:3)
* Disney Market Cap: $180 billion
* Apple Market Cap: $4.32 trillion.
That's an acquisition Bob, not a merger.
Re: (Score:2)
It's also disingenuous to call a merger "swallowing." While the bigger company (if it was bigger at the time) usually comes out on top, it's not a guarantee. Smaller companies often have far more agile political chops and end up taking control. There are several examples in the banking industry.
Self serving revisionism by Bob Iger ? (Score:2)
Framing it as entirely his personal moral epiphany is classic executive revisionism. Gets to look like a visionary who anticipated the convergence of big tech and massive content libraries.
You know I wish they bought Twitter (Score:1)
It would be souless corporate but at least it would be pedo Nazis.
Thank fucking god (Score:2)
That Musk got it before Disney could get it's hands on Twitter and trash it. Twitter / X is just about the only major platform you can post and consume porn
If Iger thinks he’s on par (Score:2)
With Apple, he’s got delusions of grandeur. One of these companies is hands-down the strongest consumer electronics powerhouse in the world, with a major manufacturing footprint.
The other one makes cute cartoons and fantasy entertainment.
Trust (Score:4, Insightful)
This is the underlying problem. The CEOs don't trust their own company. When the studio was churning out hits in the 1990s, the should have thrown everything they had at the studio team. Instead they cut the budgets and strangled wages, so half the people went to work for Dreamworks and Sony. Same thing happened with Pixar. Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, etc...) wanted to direct a live-action movie. Disney eventually nixed the project, so he left for a few years.
If you trust the people working for you, you pay them well and fund their projects. If you don't trust them, you keep buying other companies hoping to fill in the creative void.
Re: (Score:1)
> If you trust the people working for you, you pay them well and fund their projects.
That's no longer the American Way (if it ever was).
Re: (Score:2)
> That's no longer the American Way (if it ever was).
It still is, for successful companies, and when it's not, you go work for Sony or Dreamworks :)
Re: (Score:2)
First, Iger was on the board of Apple for 8 years ending in 2019. Disney wanting to merge when Apple was starting to move into the entertainment industry with Apple TV (also in 2019), sure doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility.
Apple now also makes [1]cute cartoons and fantasy entertainment. [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apple_TV_original_programming