Disney owns many companies, well; not every company, but Disney has some of the biggest and well-known companies in the world under its umbrella.
Over the years, Walt Disney has successfully managed to grow into a household name in most families. It is one of the largest companies in the entertainment and an international media conglomerate. Disney was established back in 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney. The company was initially known as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. It now generates more than $10 billion in a year.
Picture credits : Disney Institute
We have gathered some information and found out that Disney owns a part of GoPro. Unfortunately, Disney has so many child companies that it often becomes difficult to find out what companies and franchises Disney owns.
Continue reading to know in detail about what does Disney own.
Disney owned Franchises and Brands
Disney has various companies under its radar, yet it is often not recognized as a giant. Did you know ESPN and The History Channel is owned by Disney? They possibly own every single entertainment company. But why do we rarely see its logo?
When a company has various franchises, it becomes enormous. It is very different from just owning a company; it comes with endless growth opportunities. Disney has been dominating the merchandise market for years now. So if you are wondering what Disney owns, you are currently at the right place on the internet.
Some of the prominent brands under Disney are:
- Star Wars
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Disney Fairytales
- The Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise
- The Winnie the Pooh Franchise
- ABC Shows
- Pixar
- The Indiana Jones Franchise
- The Chronicles of Narnia Franchise
- The Muppets
What Companies Does Disney Own?
Disney owns multiple companies, and below we have listed the names of some Disney owned companies:
- ESPN
- Marvel
- ABC
- Touchstone Pictures
- Lifetime
- Lucasfilm
- Pixar
- Hollywood Records
- Core Publishing
- A&E
- Vice Media
- The History Channel
Most of the companies listed above are very well-known companies. We must say Disney has done it very well to bring these companies under its radar.
Top 4 Companies That Come Under Disney
We already know the names of the companies that Disney currently owns. Below, we will talk about their business acquisitions by Disney in detail.
21st Century Fox
The acquisition of 21st Century Fox became official on March 20, 2019. It was perhaps the largest and the most complicated purchase in history. The entire process was full of minute details that made the whole process very lengthy and chaotic. Ultimately, there is still some confusion regarding the acquisition process as a whole.
Both Fox Century and Disney agreed that Disney would have right over both films and the television division. We all know that 21ST Century Fox has been the powerhouse in the film and TV industry for producing high-quality content. Along with the vast array of TV and Films, Disney also got 30% of Fox’s share in Hulu. With this, Disney gained control over Hulu because it already owned 30% of the claim.
Disney purchasing 21ST Century Fox made them very powerful in the entire media landscape.
ABC/ Capital Cities
ABC or the Capital Cities was formed back in the year 1985 and was purchased by Disney in the year 1995. At that time, this purchase by Disney was considered the second-largest corporate takeover, and it brought two of the world’s leading media houses together.
Disney purchased the entertainment giant at about $19 billion. The combined company is referred to as The Walt Disney CO. ABC started as a radio, and in the late 1990s, Disney acquired it. As a result, Disney took control over their 21 radio station, ten television stations, and 80% ownership of ESPN, The History Channel, and A&E Network. It transformed Disney into the first media house with over four significant parts (Films, broadcasting, cable television, and telephone wires) of entertainment and media.
Pixar Animation Studios
It has been more than a decade when Pixar Animation, owned by Steve Jobs, was acquired by Disney. Under Jobs, Pixar already became one of the world’s best-animated movie production houses. To date, Pixar is known for giving us films like ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Finding Nemo.’ So when Disney purchased Pixar in the year 2006, it instantly became the leader of animated films.
Disney acquired shares worth $7.4 billion in Pixar in 2006, and since then, it is known as one of the most successful mergers. George LucasPixar and John Lasseter established Pixar Animation Studios as a computer graphics division owned by filmmaker George Lucas. Later in 1986, Steve Jobs purchased the computer graphics division and converted it into an individual company, Pixar. During the acquisition, Pixar agreed to offer Disney 2.3 shares of its stock.
Marvel Entertainment
Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment in 2009, and the company has earned more than $18 billion at the global box office. After releasing ‘Iron Man’ in the year 2008, CEO Bob Iger closed a deal of purchasing the comic book company for around $4 billion to Disney in 2009.
Marvel Entertainment was founded in the year 1930. It was then known as Timely Comics. The comic book publishing company when through several name changes and was owned by various companies before Disney acquired it. The collaboration is very successful and indeed has room for success and growth.
Bob Iger currently chairs Disney, and Bob Chapek was the CEO till 2020. Before Bob Iger became the chairman, Disney has very few companies, brands, and franchises under its umbrella. However, we cannot deny that Bob Iger spent a lot of time growing the company’s portfolio and growing it to the size it is today.
Disney is no less than online streaming giant Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu. However, the company has very recently started investing and now has an online streaming platform, Disney+. So if you are wondering, what does Disney own? Well, it possesses a lot.
The company is only going to grow in the coming years.
