Advancing its strategy of developing outstanding creative content, Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company announced today that Disney has completed its acquisition of renowned computer animation leader Pixar. In the all-stock transaction, 2.3 Disney shares will be issued for each Pixar share. The deal, valued at $7.4 billion, was announced in January.
The deal makes Steve Jobs — chief executive of Pixar and also of Apple Computer Inc. — Disney’s single largest shareholder, with a 7 percent stake in the company.
Dr. Ed Catmull, previously Pixar President, will serve as President of the new Pixar and Disney animation studios, reporting to Iger and Dick Cook, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. In addition, John Lasseter, previously Pixar Executive Vice President, will be Chief Creative Officer of the animation studios, as well as Principal Creative Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering, where he will provide his expertise in the design of new attractions for Disney theme parks around the world, reporting directly to Iger. Steve Jobs, previously Pixar Chairman and CEO, has joined Disney’s Board of Directors as a non-independent member. With the addition of Jobs, 11 of Disney’s 14 Directors are independent.
“For the last 15 years, Disney and Pixar have shared one of the most successful partnerships in entertainment history,” Iger said in the press release. “From ‘Toy Story’ through ‘The Incredibles,’ the success of these animated films was due to the creativity, innovation and immense talent of the phenomenal Pixar team, led by Steve, Ed and John. We also fully recognize that Pixar’s extraordinary record of achievement is in large measure due to its vibrant creative culture, which is something we respect and admire and are committed to supporting and fostering in every way possible. As we begin the next chapter, all of us at Disney are pleased to welcome the incredibly talented Pixar team to our Company to continue to create quality entertainment for audiences to enjoy around the world.”
Shares of Walt Disney climbed 69 cents, or 2.4 percent, to close at $29.09 on the New York Stock Exchange. In after-hours trading, Walt Disney shares climbed 8 cents to $29.17.
Advertisements:
• Get the new iMac with Intel Core Duo for as low as $31 A MONTH with Free shipping!
• Get the MacBook Pro with Intel Core Duo for as low as $47 A MONTH with Free Shipping!
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
Related articles:
Steve Jobs: no interest in being Disney exec, plans to spend more time at Apple – April 27, 2006
Biggest cheers reserved for Apple CEO Steve Jobs at Disney’s annual meeting – March 10, 2006
Apple CEO Steve Jobs might launch bid for Disney – March 02, 2006
Stock futures up on speculation that Apple will snap up Disney – February 27, 2006
Barron’s: Apple Computer could buyout Disney – February 25, 2006
Cringely wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple+Disney+Pixar+others as single huge company in 5 years – January 27, 2006
Steve Jobs’ arrival at the Magic Kingdom could have more thrills than trip to Disneyland – January 27, 2006
Report: Disney buys Pixar for approx. $7 billion, Steve Jobs to become Disney’s largest shareholder – January 23, 2006
Would you rather me say “Steve Jobs is a computer nerd,” or “First Post! Whoo hooo!” Huh? Cause I just said both.
An old fable: A wise man walked through the woods. He came across a farm. The farmer said, “Look at my horse. Isn’t it grand?” The wise man said, “Who’s to say what is good or bad?” The wise man continued walking. The wise man came across the farm again the next day. The man said, “My horse ran away. Isn’t that terrible?” The wise man said, “Who’s to say what is good or bad?” The wise man returned the next day. The farmer said, “The horse returned with lots of wild horses. Isn’t that great.” “Who’s to say what is good or bad?” said the wise man. Upon the his return to the farm, the farmer told the wise man, “My son broke his arm taming those wild horses. Isn’t that horrible?” “Who’s to say?” The next day, the wise man returned once more to the farm. The farmer explained, “The military came by looking for recruits. They passed up son because he had a broken arm. Everything was a good thing.” “Bingo,” the wise man said.
Steve should have sold Renderman software to Apple before selling Pixar. It’s worth a bundle.
I think you all would rather hear me say “MacMan is a nerd.” Cause its true, & I already said it.
Will Steve get paid $1 a year?
An old fable: A bear shit in the woods.
Damn I all I needed was b3 and I would have gotten Bingo. I’ll get you wiseman.
Macman – give up the trying to be an author.
Bad.
I just hope Disney don’t screw up Pixar.
MacMan: I hadn’t heard that one in a long time. I luv it — thanks.
Dee Nile: MacMan’s not trying to be an author — as he said, it’s “An old fable.” And with some great wisdom to it — imho.
Perhaps it was just a little too deep for rasterblaster.
Doing some quick Cinco de Mayo cocktail napkin math, I calculated that Steve Jobs’ 7 percent share of Disney stock is worth a paltry $3.93 Billion, based on today’s closing price of the stock.
That ain’t peanuts.
Considering that he bought Pixar from George Lucas at a relative fire sale price, and helped messrs Catmull, Lassiter et al do what they do best, I would say that it’s been a very shrewd move by the Apple co-founder. If you’re a Disney stockholder, today could be the start of a great future for the company.
And if that means that Steve can continue to be paid $1 by Apple (huge option grants and corporate Gulfstream jets notwithstanding), all the better. We read a daily cavalcade of anti-Apple noise by know-nothing pundits on the pages of this site. Truth be told, history will someday be kind to Steve Jobs, and remember him for being one of the best business minds of the past 50 years.
Kudos, Steve.
That’s not wisdom, just pseudo-wisdom… Some things ARE bad (just as some are GOOD). Getting run over by a freight train doesn’t have a good ending.
mac user 47,
Your freight train story is a good ending for a lot of people if you happen to be a suicide bomber on the way to detonate in the mall.
First!
Some people just don’t understand fables. That’s fine. In Buddhism there are caterpillars and there are butterflies. For those who don’t understand, there are some people saying the sale is good. Some say the sale is bad. Who is to say what the final out come is?
Disney put out poor animated films after Lion King and ruined it’s name in animation. Pixar carried Disney’s Nine Old Men torch and followed the old path. Those films are considered great animation. Now, Pixar is returning the Nine Old Men torch to Disney. Disney animation can return to its former glory under Pixar leadership. So, was Disney’s “poor” animated films a good thing or a bad thing?
The Pixar sale does not happen if Disney had successful animation films. Disney fans like John Lassetter and Andrew Stanton and Pete Doctor and Brad Bird and many other fans at Pixar would be shut out and turned away by Disney.
There are those who worry that Disney will absorb Pixar causing Pixar to lose its identity and way of life. That’s why people worry about the Pixar sale.
P.S. If you don’t know who the Nine Old Men are, then you don’t know animation. Look them up.
Keep Iger – He’s really starting to shine. As for Steve, let’s use that newfound time working on the cell phone and digital living room stuff, will ya
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
To set the record straight… from a Pixar rep I met… Steve bought Pixar for $5 Million, not $10 Million. Steve paid $5 Million and added $5 Million of his own money for Research and Development.
$5 Million purchase price + $5 Million seed money + 20 years = $3.93 Billion
MacMan… sounds like a script for the next Disney film!
Rummy,
Yes, good for those who would have been killed by the bomb – but still bad for the man killed by the train, which was my original point.
… or the suicide bomber might have had a non-fatal epiphany instead, and not followed through with it – instead becoming an influence in convincing other “would-be-suicide-bombers” that there is a saner alternative.
… or let’s just say the man hit by the train wasn’t a suicide bomber but instead just a regular guy on the way home to see his family. There’s nothing good about that. Especially since the main person qualified to say if it was “good” or “bad” just died (my guess is, since we are talking about a sane person who wants to live and see his family, that he would choose to not be hit by the train, but maybe I’m out in left field…).
Oh God,,,now Steve is the largest Disney shareholder. How it affects all of you, I have no idea, but I know you’re hard thinking about it. Go ahead and fantize that steve gets those share and that the sametime you have the chance to suck on him simultaneously. Yes, you are probably blowing loads on your stomach right now thinking of it.
Mac User 47 you’re missing the point.
It is not a discussion that all things are good. It’s a discussion that we can not determine what is good or bad about a situation until everything plays out. The Pixar deal could still be bad. What if the next CEO decides to stop Pixar’s way of life? Example, decisions on movies are to be made by executives, not Directors. Pixar is currently a director base studio, not an executive based studio. The deal could still be a bad deal if the next CEO or even Iger decides Pixar should transform into a corporate landscape.
Check out the second disk of Monsters, Inc. if you need to see what life at Pixar is like as of right now.
Wow!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”rolleyes” style=”border:0;” />
Disney’s Nine Old Men
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Old_Men
Disney’s Nine Old Men were the core animators (some of whom later became directors) that created the Disney studio’s most famous work, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs onward to The Rescuers. Walt Disney jokingly called this group of animators his “Nine Old Men”, referring to what Franklin D. Roosevelt called the nine judges of the US Supreme Court, even though the animators were in their thirties and forties at the time.
MacMan:
You can’t compare accidental death to a stock take over and believe you can extrapolate universal truths about good and bad from that. Makes no sense and seems pretty tasteless if you ask me.
Philosophical lingering at its worst.
MacMan:
I was going by your story. Because your wise man in that story arbitrarily decided at what point in time to evaluate whether the situation was Good or Bad. In other words, if you continue out in time past the soldier event, you can think of all kinds of scenarios where it could be flipped back and forth (good/bad).
My point is that individual events/actions can be good and bad in themselves, even though there may be a larger effect that is different to others or later in time.
For instance. Jesus – completely innocent- was murdered/excecuted on the cross. That is a seriously Bad event, but overcoming death and being alive now (which wouldn’t have been possible without the first event) is seriously Good for everyone else who want’s a relationship with God. However, that doesn’t change the action of murdering Jesus to anything but evil in and of itself.
Macman-
So Dan Millman taught you something, did he? Good, because he’s a good person to learn from.