Company Overview
Highlights
Motion picture subsidiaries include Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, and Miramax Films. Acquired animation production company Pixar in 2006.
Operates theme parks in southern California, Florida, Japan, France, and Hong Kong. Owns ESPN, Pixar, the ABC television network, and Hyperion Books.
Disney. The very word evokes images of childhood, magic, and America. The company's founder, Walt Disney, started small in 1923 with the production of film shorts starring Mickey Mouse. From those humble beginnings, Disney built an entertainment empire.
Today, the company has far outpaced its founder's original vision to become the second most profitable media conglomerate behind Time Warner, with ventures ranging from movies and television to theme parks and product merchandising to publishing Internet content and e-commerce sites. A mention of the Walt Disney name and images of Jasmine, Cinderella, and Pirates of the Caribbean come to many a consumer's mind. But the company plays a much larger role in the entertainment industry than the creation of movies and collectables: The Walt Disney Company's television networks include ABC and 10 broadcast stations, along with a slew of cable networks that include ABC Family, A&E Television Networks, and ESPN. (Disney sold more than half of share in its radio stations and radio syndication unit to Citadel Broadcasting for $2.7 billion to focus on its television sector.)
In addition to its hold on film and TV sectors, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts remains one of the most profitable theme park operators in the world with part ownerships of Hong Kong's Disney resort and EuroDisney. Walt Disney has also made huge strides with regard technology in recent years. In a major deal that ended an ongoing fight over distribution rights, the company acquired computer animation powerhouse Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006, making Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs Disney's top shareholder. Disney then looked to Jobs' other venture known for technological innovation-this time in an effort to expand its digital media offerings. The company partnered with Apple's iTunes Music Store in 2006, hoping to better serve its tech-savvy young audience.
Walt Disney Internet Group kept the momentum going in 2007, ramping up Disney.com with games, videos, and user-generated content. Disney acquired kid-focused ClubPenguin.com that year for approximately $350 million. Undergraduates ranked Disney second in the Universum IDEAL™ Employer Survey and 64th in the Fortune 500 rankings in 2007.