“I believe that if Steve were still alive, we would have combined our companies, or at least discussed the possibility very seriously.” – Bob Iger, The Ride of a Lifetime
It’s not entirely farfetched to think that Apple could buy Disney, Disney CEO Bob Iger himself said it likely would’ve happened if Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs were still alive today. Iger had a close relationship with Jobs, sitting on the Apple Board of Directors shortly after Jobs passed until Apple TV+ was announced. Jobs himself was on the Disney Board of Directors from 2006 until his passing. There’s no doubt that the companies, and particularly Jobs, were intertwined in the past, but what does the future hold?
A new report from THR today continues the media rumblings of an Apple buyout of Disney. The report says that watchers should not count out an Apple purchase this time. In a June 2023 article, AppleInsider noted that the rumors of an Apple buyout of Disney are “old enough to buy an overpriced beer at EPCOT”. Those comments came after Iger took the stage at the Apple developer conference to tout the Apple Vision Pro headset. Iger talked about how the new headset would allow Disney to immerse fans “in a way that was previously impossible”, expanding storytelling to a whole new level.
Since then, Iger has signaled that he would be open to selling off certain parts of the company that he didn’t consider to be “core” to The Walt Disney Company. It’s this latest action – the slimming down of the core business – that THR says could be a sign that Iger is getting ready to sell. Apple is a massive company, flush with cash and enough market cap to swallow up Disney if it wanted to – provided the transaction passes regulatory bodies.
What does Iger think about a sale now? It’s hard to know what he’s thinking at this moment, but when rumors of an Apple sale popped up last year, he told employees at a town hall that the reports were “not rooted in fact” and “pure speculation”, according to BlogMickey.com reporting.
There is an earnings call this afternoon and Wall Street expectations aren’t high for the struggling streaming/meida business. At the theme parks, we’re expecting to see a continuation of recent trends of lower attendance but higher revenue.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
This happens and Iger’s legacy is dead. He will go down in infamy.
A tech company with rediculously overpriced stock, depending on far to few products – this is AOL – Time Warner all over again. I can only hope that thefregulatory hurdles are too high for this nightmare to become reality.