“If the Pixar deal goes through, he’ll be the biggest shareholder in the Mouse House. He won’t be shy about expressing himself, either,” Ronald Grover writes for BusinessWeek. “For a Magic Kingdom, the boardroom of the Walt Disney Co. (DIS ) can be a pretty nasty place. In Michael Eisner’s 20-plus years at the company, there were shouting matches, backroom intrigue, and more than a little backstabbing. Eisner himself forced one board member out of the Mouse House, when she spoke up in favor of dissident members who questioned Eisner’s grasp on the CEO job. Another board member, Walt’s nephew Roy Disney, was also shown the door — ostensibly for passing the mandatory retirement age for the board.”
“Now, as rumors continue to circulate that Pixar Chairman Steve Jobs will sell his company to Disney and join the Disney board, veteran mouse watchers are bracing for new fireworks. Think of Jobs joining Disney as Silicon Valley fire hitting old-media kerosene,” Grover writes. “This much is certain about Jobs, who has catapulted Apple from the brink of collapse to prosperity through strategic vision, a virtuosic feel for what consumers want, and the sheer force of his personality: If he thinks he’s right, get out of the way. And given his astounding success not only at Apple, but as the most successful movie mogul of the past decade, he’ll likely have opinions aplenty for Disney’s directors. The 13 members of the Disney board, which has been beefed up recently with experienced — if somewhat traditional — new directors, could be feeling the Jobs Force up close and personal.”
Full article here.
“This news sent shares of Disney up more than 3 percent on Thursday, a curious move since shares of companies rumored to be making a purchase usually fall on merger-related speculation,” Paul R. La Monica reports for CNNMoney. ‘Clearly the market is giving this a thumb’s up,’ said David Katz, chief investment officer of Matrix Asset Advisors, a New York-based money management firm that owns 1.2 million shares of Disney. ‘Steve Jobs would have a huge vested interest in making Disney successful.'”
“But Pixar’s shares gained more than 3.5 percent on Thursday, putting the company’s market value at just over $7 billion. If Disney were to make a deal for Pixar, analysts said it would probably have to pay a premium to the stock’s current valuation,” La Monica reports.
“Disney could also benefit from having Pixar’s creative head, John Lasseter, back in the Disney fold and in charge of all of Disney’s animated movies. Lasseter left Disney in 1984 and joined Pixar in 1986,” La Monica reports. “Katz at Matrix said that it would probably have been impossible to imagine Lasseter working for Disney if Michael Eisner were still in charge. But Eisner’s successor, Bob Iger, has quickly moved to repair the bad blood between Disney and Pixar.”
Full article here.
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Related article:
Report: Disney in talks to buy Pixar; Steve Jobs could become largest individual Disney shareholder – January 19, 2006