The Big Picture
- Disney acquired Marvel in 2009, leading to immense success with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.05 billion, obtaining Star Wars and other subsidiaries.
- The acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019 for $71.3 billion made Disney the majority owner of National Geographic and expanded its entertainment assets.
The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest entertainment companies to exist. Since Walt Disney founded the company nearly 100 years ago in October 1923, it has grown into one of the largest entertainment and media companies in the world. Disney not only runs and owns theme parks, but it’s also an entertainment institution that produces and distributes movies, television shows, and other various content, such as music and radio. Disney owns television networks and other major studios and production companies, making it home to not only the characters that Walt Disney created, such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy, but the entire Marvel Universe, The Muppets, and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
In the last 15 years, Disney’s biggest acquisitions were Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios). However, Disney has also acquired various other companies over the years that are worth discussing. Some of these companies are still under joint ownership, or Disney might have a controlling interest, but they showcase Disney’s vast entertainment portfolio. Here is a look at all the companies in Disney's portfolio that the company owns either solely or jointly.
ABC, ESPN, and Other TV Networks Disney Owns
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and The Walt Disney Company have a longstanding relationship going back to the 1950s and the days of Walt Disney. In 1954, Walt Disney agreed to produce a regular television series for the network, and in return, ABC invested in the Disneyland theme park. ABC made a $500,000 investment and a guarantee of an additional $4.5 million in loans, which in turn made ABC one-third owner of Disneyland at the time. Disney would eventually buy back ABC’s investment in Disneyland in 1960 for the price of $7.5 million. In July 1995, Disney and ABC announced a merger that would be completed in February 1996.
The acquisition granted Disney ownership of the ABC network, along with percentages in ESPN, The History Channel, A&E Network, Lifetime Television, a publishing group, and ABC Radio. Disney later sold much of the publishing group. The ABC Radio stations were also sold off in 2006. For ESPN, Disney’s merger with ABC gave Disney an 80% controlling interest in the sports giant and media conglomerate.
When Did Disney Buy Pixar?
The events that led to Disney acquiring Pixar had some earth-shattering and far-reaching consequences for The Walt Disney Company that were felt for years. In the 2000s, the relationship between Disney and Pixar had frayed, despite many successful past collaborations. At the time, Pixar CEO Steve Jobs was looking to negotiate with other partnering studio distributors for Pixar. Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Disney founder Walt Disney and the largest individual shareholder of Disney, resigned from the company in 2003, calling for a shareholder revolt against then-CEO Michael Eisner. In 2004, Eisner received a 45% no-confidence vote from shareholders, and as a result, he was stripped of his Chairman-of-the-Board power. Later in 2005, Eisner stepped down from his post as Disney CEO. He was succeeded by Bob Iger, who is currently still the CEO of Disney to this day, despite a period of brief succession by Bob Chapek.
With Eisner gone and Disney under new leadership, Iger was able to mend fences between Disney and Pixar. In May 2006, Disney announced the $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar. The new deal made Jobs a director on Disney’s board, and Pixar would continue producing a number of hit award-winning films released by Disney Studios for years to come. It also gave Bob Iger the first of many big acquisition victories that came under his tenure as Disney CEO. Iger’s tenure as CEO oversaw Disney’s acquisitions of no less than Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox.
When Did Disney Buy Marvel?
Disney wholly bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in 2009. This granted Disney ownership over the Marvel Comics publishing imprint, Marvel Studios, and of course, all of the various IPs and characters that fall under what is termed the Marvel Universe, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney acquired Marvel just as the Marvel Cinematic Universe was gearing up, and the first Iron Man movie had just been released. The Marvel Cinematic Universe eventually became the highest-grossing film franchise in history, a title the film series still holds to this day. Considering all the box office and ancillary profits, along with merchandise sales, Disney’s acquisition of Marvel has paid back its purchase price many times over.
When Did Disney Buy Lucasfilm?
In October 2012, Disney acquired George Lucas’ company, Lucasfilm Ltd., for $4.05 billion, which was just slightly more than the cost of Marvel Entertainment. The Lucasfilm acquisition gave Disney ownership of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and any other entertainment assets and IP owned by Lucasfilm. However, what is also notable about the Disney buyout is the various subsidiary and technology groups that fell under the Lucasfilm banner. Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm granted Disney ownership of the Lucasfilm production company, the game development publishing wing LucasArts, the industry-leading special effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), and the sound effects and editing company Skywalker Sound. Sadly, LucasArts was shuttered in 2013. The good news is that in 2021, Lucasfilm rebranded its gaming division as Lucasfilm Games to handle the licensing of its Lucasfilm properties, meaning that Lucasfilm Games is another subsidiary also owned by Disney.
When Did Disney Buy 21st Century Fox?
In 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox for the price of $71.3 billion. This was likely Disney’s biggest media acquisition in history. The FOX Company was looking to offload its entertainment assets, and Disney became the biggest suitor. The deal was first announced in December 2017 before finally completing in March 2019. Clearly, the Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox included 20th Century Fox, the movie studio, 20th Century Fox Television Productions, Fox Television Animation, Blue Sky Studios, Fox 2000, Fox Searchlight, the cable network FX, the cable network FXX, all the film and television properties that Fox owned, Fox’s 73% majority stake in National Graphic Partners (More on that later), Indian television broadcaster Star India, and Fox’s 30% stake in Hulu.
Since Disney already had a minority stake of 30% in Hulu at the time of the purchase, Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s entertainment assets granted Disney a controlling 60% ownership of the Hulu streaming service. Comcast (parent company of NBCUniversal) still has a minority ownership of Hulu. In 2024, Comcast will have the "put option" to require Disney to take over its current stake in Hulu, while Disney has the option to tell Comcast to sell the stake. The Hollywood Reporter predicts that it would cost at least $9 billion for Disney to purchase Comcast’s stake in the streamer.
When Did Disney Found Hollywood Records?
Hollywood Records is a subsidiary and music label of the Disney Music Group that was created after Disney Music Group acquired the music catalog of the band Queen. Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner founded the label in 1989 to focus on music genres such as pop, rock, alternative, hip-hop, country, and more mature music that wouldn’t necessarily fit under the Walt Disney Records label.
A&E Is Jointly Owned by Disney and Hearst Communications
A&E, a network best known for its documentaries and reality shows, is actually a network that’s jointly owned under a 50/50 agreement by the two conglomerates Disney and Hearst Communications. A&E came under Disney and Hearst’s joint ownership when both companies agreed to buy out NBCUniversal’s minority 15.8% stake in A&E in 2012. Since then, A&E TV has been jointly owned in a 50/50 stake by Disney and Hearst.
Disney Has Majority Ownership of National Geographic Partners LLC
Disney now has majority ownership of National Graphic, or as it is known under its official business name, National Geographic Partners, LLC. In case you are wondering why National Geographic documentaries are available now on Disney+, this was the result of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019. When the National Geographic Society formed a corporate partnership with 21st Century Fox, that granted Fox majority ownership of National Geographic Magazine and National Geographic’s various affiliated television networks. And since Disney acquired 21st Century Fox and Fox’s entertainment assets in the 2019 acquisition, that majority ownership transferred over to Disney as well. This grants Disney majority ownership of National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic Kids, National Geographic TV, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People, Nat Geo Maps, and Under the Stars.
Disney Founded Steamboat Ventures in 2000
A more obscure subsidiary of Disney, Steamboat Ventures is a venture capitalist arm of The Walt Disney Company that was founded in 2000 and named after the debut Mickey Mouse cartoon, "Steamboat Willie." According to Steamboat Ventures’ mission statement, the company seeks "to help young companies successfully face the challenges of becoming leaders in their markets. We invest in early through growth stage companies that are pursuing opportunities at the intersection of technology, media, and consumer sectors." Over 10 years ago, Steamboat Ventures became a leading investor in GoPro, the sports camera maker, before GoPro went public. Steamboat Ventures raised $427 million for GoPro into what was reported by The Wall Street Journal as "the biggest consumer electronics IPO on record."
Disney Bought Maker Studios, Now Known as Disney Digital Network, in 2014
In March 2014, Disney acquired online video and YouTube content network, Maker Studios, for $500 million. Several years later, Disney would go on to absorb Maker Studios into the newly formed Disney Digital Network. Maker Studios included popular YouTubers and streamers, such as Markiplier, JonTron, Philip DeFranco, and others. At the time of the acquisition, Maker Studios consisted of more than 55,000 channels and 380 million subscribers on YouTube.
Disney Owns a Percentage of VICE Media
The Canada-based digital media and broadcasting company, VICE Media, falls under a joint ownership that Disney has a minority stake in the company. 16% of VICE Media, including the TV network VICE, is owned by Disney. The television network is known for its popular docuseries, such as Dark Side of Comedy and Dark Side of the Ring. However, another 20% is also owned by A&E Networks, of which Disney has a 50% joint ownership. It's like corporate inception.
Now that Disney+ and Hulu are merging, only time will tell if Disney's experimental "one-app experience" will be successful. What is clear, however, is that Disney is determined to remain one of the toughest competitors in the world of streaming — and the company's latest move is surely just one of many more to come.
Disney movies and TV shows are available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.