“The calculus of the Walt Disney Company buying Pixar Animation Studios is, on its face, simple: big media conglomerate plus vaunted computer animation studio plus closer ties with Steven P. Jobs, the maverick Pixar founder, equals potential powerhouse,” Richard Siklos writes for The New York Times. “But because Mr. Jobs’s other job is chairman and chief executive of Apple Computer, a deal also raises the possibility of a warmer relationship between Disney and Apple if Mr. Jobs plays an active role at the company.”
“Although there would be no direct equity relationship between Apple and Disney, Mr. Jobs would be the largest individual shareholder in both, and would be likely to hold at least a board seat at Disney,” Siklos writes. “In the complex and sometimes querulous dynamic between media and technology companies, such a move would no doubt raise questions about the ripples those ties can be expected to cause.”
Siklos writes, “For example, would Mr. Jobs view Disney as the preferred content supplier for future generations of Apple iPods and other hardware that distribute and play media products like songs and TV shows? And would Disney’s media rivals be less inclined to do business with Apple as it introduced new services because they would be abetting a competitor? Similarly, will technology companies vying with Apple to develop new products for media consumption be less inclined to work with Disney lest their best ideas find their way up the California coast from Disney’s Burbank headquarters to Apple’s Cupertino campus?”
“The biggest question about what a Pixar acquisition would mean for the media industry broadly rests more on the question of how big a role Mr. Jobs envisions for himself at Disney,” Siklos writes, “But even if his position is a relatively passive one – similar, say to Ted Turner’s influence at Time Warner after he sold his Turner Broadcasting System to the company a decade ago – just the fact that Mr. Jobs will have such a large personal investment in Disney means that he will become more invested in a future where content companies can share in the spoils alongside device makers like Apple.”
Full article here.
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Related articles:
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I don’t have any problems with THE STEVE running Disney and Apple. Maybe then I could download Boston Legal on iTunes.
DENNY CRANE!
Adobe bought over Aldus = Good/Bad
Adobe bought over Micromedia = Bad (No more FreeHand)
M$soze bought over Expressions software = Bad. No improvement
Compaq bought over Digital = Bad
HP bought over Compaq = Bad
Disney bought over Pixar = (?) Don’t know yet.
But I don’t care, just as long as they continue to make good movies, that’s all we care.
And also as long as it doesn’t affect Apple negatively, it’s ok.
Disney bought over Pixar = (?) Don’t know yet
—
Well, we can chide Sony for being a hardware maker and a content provider/protector.. and look how that turned out…
Steve as figurehead chairman of the board for Disney, is fine. An active role would be bad for Apple. Disney is too big and diversified. Its problems would take too much of Steve’s precious time.
LWFfSH:
You forgot one: Autodesk, makers of 3d Studio Max bought Alias, makers of Maya in ’05.
All this buying seems to be in…
Al Gore is on the Board of Directors of Apple – are more democrats buying Apple computers now? Has the Democratic committee switched all its buying to Apple computers? Since most teachers are democrats and their democratic hero Al Gore is a board member of Apple are all schools now switching to Apple computers?
The answer is no. Being a board member on a company means little or nothing.
Steve being on the Disney board means little.
Steve had/has a huge investment in Pixar, but did he make them immediately switch to using Apple computers? No. In fact in 2003 Pixar was using Dell work stations.
——–
An interesting excercise in “what if” is what if Intel bought Apple and licensed OSX to all computer makers????
But remember this happened before….
NeXT (Steve Jobs) bought by Apple = very good (becomes head of whole company)
Pixar (Steve Jobs again) bought by Disney = probably good. (Will he take over Disney?)
So I’m not worried for this switch…. anything with Steve Jobs turns out good…
Don’t let Disney do this, it would be so bad if Pixar were sold. Their a creative company who take their time to produce something great & they also look after the workers. I read on a web site, that they sent their animators to scuba diving class, before they worked on Nemo. I can’t see Disney doing that. They’ll be pressuring them to cut corners & get the job done, so can work on the next project. Then the stories will suck & look awful. And who’s fault will it be, oh, John Lasseter’s name comes to mind & then he’ll be fired for under performing. This is the corporate greed that goes on, so don’t trust them.
Queezie,
“Steve had/has a huge investment in Pixar, but did he make them immediately switch to using Apple computers? No. In fact in 2003 Pixar was using Dell work stations.”
Actually, that is not true. Pixar bought approximately 1000 dual processor servers running linux to replace their Sun servers. Their desktop machines have been predominantly linux/unix machines running proprietary software.
“I read on a web site, that they sent their animators to scuba diving class, before they worked on Nemo. I can’t see Disney doing that.”
Do you even know what you’re talking about? Yeah, Disney locks all their animators in cubicles and hopes things turn out okay. I heard for the Lion King Disney wouldn’t even give their animators photos of lions. I heard they just taped the dictionary definition of lion on the front door to the animation studios.
“Being a board member on a company means little or nothing.”
Yeah, it’s not like the BOD is supposed to direct the company or anything. They’re there for the free coffee, aren’t they?
“An interesting excercise in “what if” is what if Intel bought Apple and licensed OSX to all computer makers????”
It’s really not that interesting. If only you added one more question mark, then maybe.
effwrerd: “Yeah, it’s not like the BOD is supposed to direct the company or anything. They’re there for the free coffee, aren’t they?”
You think Al Gore is running/directing Apple? How is that? What does he do – serve the free coffee?
Here´s the board of directors for Apple.
You think Intuit, J.Crew, Genetech and Harwinton Capital are directing Apple? If so, then you don´t know what a board of directos does. At Apple 6 members of the Board of Directors rubberstamps what the 7th (Steve Jobs) says.
Fred D. Anderson
Partner, Elevation Partners
Former CFO, Apple Computer, Inc.
Bill Campbell
Chairman and former CEO
Intuit Corp.
Millard Drexler
Chairman and CEO
J. Crew
Albert Gore Jr.
Former Vice President of the United States
Steve Jobs
CEO, Apple
CEO, Pixar
Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D.
Chairman and CEO
Genentech
Jerry York
Chairman, President and CEO
Harwinton Capital
If I were Sony, I would be very afraid…
Interesting the note about former Apple CFO Anderson being a partner at Elevation Partners.
Elevation Partners is committed to the media and entertainment industry. We believe that changes in technology and demographics have created new business opportunities for content owners and creators, many of which exist outside of traditional media and entertainment distribution channels. Elevation’s mission is to help media and entertainment businesses develop and market great content, take advantage of new platforms and channels, and address demand in new geographies.
BioWare / Pandemic Studios
BioWare/Pandemic Studios is a creative and management alliance between BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios, LLC, two leading independent video game developers. On November 3, 2005, Elevation announced it would invest over $300 million in the companies, creating one of the world’s best-funded and largest independent game development houses. more >
bioware.pandemicstudios.com
http://www.bioware.com
http://www.pandemicstudios.com
Homestore
Homestore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOMS) offers a wide variety of information and decision support tools for consumers looking for home and real estate-related information on the Internet. more >
Homestore.com
—–
None of the game companies makes Mac software…
“You think Al Gore is running/directing Apple?”
Did I say that? No. I asked a rhetorical, sarcastic question to highlight your stupidity. If you don’t think a BOD influences the company it sits for then you are just being obtuse. If you conflate directing with running everyday ops then you should try reading a book once in your life. What do you think a BOD is for? Resume power? Something to do in the mornings before golf?
“If so, then you don´t know what a board of directos does.”
Yeah, they’re supposed to rubberstamp everything the CEO suggests. Fookin brilliant.
F-Word you are confused or are you still being sarcastic?
Could you enlighten us all how Al Gore “influences the company it sits for”? And the other companies he sits for?
(Tip: Former Vice President Al Gore is Chairman of Generation Investment Management. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Apple Computers and is a Senior Advisor to Google. He is Chairman of INdTV Holdings.)
What has Al Gore done for Apple? And while you are at it, please detail with your wisdom the influences of the other board members – except Steve Jobs.
The Board of Directors usually does nothing – probably meets once or twice a year.
F-Word confused.
effwerd: “Yeah, it’s not like the BOD is supposed to direct the company or anything.”
That is being sarcastic? Sorry, didn´t know. You didn´t mean to say that board member Al Gore has any input in directing Apple? Maybe put the smilie emoticon up when you are attempting humor.
——–
effwerd: “Yeah, they’re supposed to rubberstamp everything the CEO suggests. Fookin brilliant.”
What do you think a BOD does? You think they show up to work at Apple every day and have a staff meeting with Steve Jobs to direct the business of Apple? The only BOD member that actually works at Apple is Steve Jobs – the other are CEOs of other companies or politicians that don´t even live in California.
Jump over to Wikipedia for a little education:
“The main duties of the board are to choose the chief executive officer and other officers to run the day-to-day operations of the corporation and to exercise high-level oversight. Typically corporate boards are involved in issues of ownership, strategy, financing, and mergers and acquisitions.
The actual power held by the board of directors varies widely from corporation to corporation. In some, the board of directors form a powerful body to which senior management is subservient. Other times, the board is a formality which merely rubber stamps decisions of the CEO and senior management.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_directors
Steve runs Apple.
And don’t forget how Disney took the well written, sophisticated A. A. Milne children’s classic Winnie the Pooh story series, and turned it into total mindless, low intellect, unimaginative, cookie-cutter junk series. The first attempt was probably their best and any follow ups have been absolutely junk.
Read the original classics, and the Disney versions will make you sick.
I’m not talking about running Apple, you nitwits. I’m talking about establishing direction. Who do you think chose Steve Jobs to be CEO of Apple? How did that choice influence the future of Apple? Significantly? Insignificantly? Who decided to acquire Next? How did that effect Apple’s direction? You keep trying to downplay the significance of BODs, that’s fine. What do I care?
Oh, and thanks for the Wikipedia link. I really needed some barely reputable online community encyclopedia to inform my opinion like you. It’s always a sure sign of debating mastery when folks whip out their dictionaries and encyclopedias to make their points. I’m very impressed.
I believe it’s Disney’s fault the world of relationships between men and women is even more screwy than it was even 50 years ago… girls learn to go out seeking a knight in shining armour (a.k.a. rich, sexy dude) rather than settle for someone who’s a mere mortal. Thanks Disney for making us normal men feel inferior next to someone born with a silver spoon.
Also, how many Disney films don’t have some sort of a love story involved? Notice it’s always between a male and a female. It’s sickening to see them schmaltz things up 90% of the time. Lion King was totally screwed up… where were his other 20 wives? Male lions have heaps of babes to hang out with. That film is so misrepresentative of reality (and the lions I’ve met didn’t speak English either… go figure. They really screwed up there.)
</tongue firmly in cheek>
Steve will likely be an iBoard Member quietly talking to executives until they realize the genius of his ideas and beg him to take on more power.
As far as the Mac’s at Disney concerned, the creative types at Disney (who like mac’s better anyway) will likely start requesting mac’s because there is now a more positive atmosphere in such requests. (and in listening to the creative types)
If the Disney executives don’t understand Steve’s idea’s, God help them.
It’s also time for Roy E. Disney to get back into the game.
“anything with Steve Jobs turns out good…”
I hate to burst your bubble, but you need to get some RELIABLE books on the history of Apple….This is not always the case. SJ is human and has made some HUGE mistakes in the past – he’s not immune.
Apple HAS to have Al Gore on the BOD – remember, he invented the internet!