by Ray Keating
Analysis/Commentary
DisneyBizJournal.com
August 10, 2023
Wall Street is an industry awash in often wild rumors. Hollywood also is a sector saturated by gossip. So, no one should be surprised when speculation verges on fantasy about publicly traded companies operating in Hollywood.
Just consider the ongoing rumors that Apple could buy Disney.
The Hollywood Reporter weighed in on this in an August 9 article. It was noted that…
“…a veteran Hollywood executive mused to The Hollywood Reporter on the possibility of a deal that would rock the industry: Apple buying Disney. It’s an idea that keeps being discussed, even though many top executives have scoffed at it and many still do. Apple doesn’t want to buy a studio, they say, and there’s no way the feds would allow a huge deal like that to go through.” (Emphasis added.)
Nonetheless, the position of the authors and publishers of this piece, and many others, seems to be the following: Hey, don’t let any of these realities get in the way of speculating in an undisciplined manner.
Here’s one of my favorite parts of this Reporter piece: “There clearly is no buyer like Apple, which is sitting on $62 billion in cash and cash equivalents and has a $2.8 trillion market cap. And while it may be very true that Apple doesn’t want to buy a studio, maybe it would want to buy this studio – the one that, despite the challenges of the moment, has a vault full of priceless IP and remains the most valuable brand in entertainment.”
Um. Okay. So, Apple, which is mainly a phone and computer hardware/software company, has a lot of money and its own streaming service, but isn’t interested in purchasing a studio; nonetheless, it’s somehow a likely acquirer of a company that is a movie/television/streaming studio and an operator of the largest and most successful theme parks on the planet? Does this make any sense? Hmmm.
The Reporter pointed to where many of these rumors might have begun. In his 2019 memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, Disney CEO Bob Iger wrote about his friendship with Steve Jobs, and asserted, “I believe that if Steve were still alive, we would have combined our companies, or at least discussed the possibility very seriously.” That comment was based on a relationship – both personal and business – specific to Iger and the late Jobs.
On yesterday’s Disney earnings call, Iger was asked about the possibility of Disney being bought in total, specifically by a tech company. While saying that he didn’t want to get into future possibilities for the company, Iger’s response was pretty clear. He mentioned the international regulatory climate (read between the lines: it wouldn’t be friendly to such a deal), and pointed out that this is “not something we obsess about.”
Again, this Apple-buys-Disney idea is far more about fantasy, than reality.
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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
Consider books by Ray Keating…
• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. Here are 18 books in the series now with the latest being Under the Golden Dome: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel and For Better, For Worse: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story.
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