The Walt Disney Company owner of Searchlight Pictures
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as Disney Brothers Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to The Walt Disney Company in 1986. Early in its existence, the company established itself as a leader in the animation industry, with the creation of the widely popular character Mickey Mouse, who first appeared in Steamboat Willie, which used synchronized sound, to become the first post-produced sound cartoon. The character would go on to become the company's mascot.
After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, the company diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. Following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation division, began to decline. Once Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as the head of the company in 1984, it became overwhelmingly successful  during a period called the Disney Renaissance. In 2005, under new CEO Bob Iger, the company started to expand and acquire other corporations. Bob Chapek became the head of Disney in 2020 after Iger's retirement. Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.
Since the 1980s, Disney has created and acquired corporate divisions to market more mature content than is typically associated with its family-oriented brands. The company is known for its film-studio division Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, and Searchlight Pictures. Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these divisions, Disney owns and operates the ABC broadcast network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+, Star+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world.
Disney is one of the biggest and best-known companies in the world, and has been ranked number 53 on the 2022 Fortune 500 list of biggest companies in the United States by revenue. Since its founding, the company has won 135 Academy Awards, 26 of which have been awarded to Walt. The company has been said to have produced some of the greatest films of all time, as well as revolutionizing the theme park industry. Disney has been criticized for supposed plagiarism, depicting racial stereotypes in the past, and both including and lacking LGBT-related elements in its films. The company, which has been public since 1940, trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with ticker symbol DIS and has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991. In August 2020, just under two-thirds of the stock was owned by large financial institutions.The following year, Disney released its last traditionally animated film Winnie the Pooh to theaters. The release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides garnered a little over $1 billion, making it the eighth film to do so and Disney's highest-grossing film internationally, as well as the third-highest ever. In January 2011, the size of Disney Interactive Studios was reduced and 200 employees were laid off. In April, Disney began constructing its new theme park Shanghai Disney Resort, costing $4.4 billion to build. In August, Bob Iger stated after the success of the Pixar and Marvel purchases, he and the Walt Disney Company were planning to "buy either new characters or businesses that are capable of creating great characters and great stories". On October 30, 2012, Disney announced it would be buying Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion from George Lucas. Through the deal, Disney gained access to franchises such as Star Wars, for which Disney said it would make a new film for every two-to-three years, first one being released in 2015. The deal also gave Disney access to the Indiana Jones franchise, visual-effects studio Industrial Light & Magic, and video game developer LucasArts. The sale was completed on December 21, 2012.In early February 2012, Disney completed its acquisition of UTV Software Communications, expanding its market further into India and the rest of Asia. By March, Iger became Disney's chairman. Marvel film The Avengers became the third-highest-grossing film of all time with an initial-release gross of $1.3 billion. Making over $1.2 billion at the box office, the Marvel film Iron Man 3 was released in 2013. The same year, Disney's animated film Frozen was released and became the highest-grossing animated film of all time at $1.2 billion. Merchandising for the film became so popular it made the company $1 billion within a year, and a global shortage of merchandise for the film occurred. In March 2013, Iger announced Disney had no 2D animation films in development, and a month, later the hand-drawn animnation division was closed, and several veteran animators were laid off. On March 24, 2014, Disney acquired Maker Studios, an active multi-channel network on YouTube, for $950 million.On February 5, 2015, Disney announced Thomas O. Staggs had been promoted to COO. In June, the company stated its consumer products and interactive divisions would merge to become new a subsidiary called Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. In August, Marvel Studios was reorganized and placed under the division Walt Disney Studios. The company's 2015 releases include the successful animated film Inside Out, which grossed over $800 million, and the Marvel film Avengers: Age of Ultron, which grossed over $1.4 billion. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released and grossed over $2 billion, making it the third-highest-grossing film of all time. In October, Disney announced the television channel ABC Family would be changing its name to Freeform in 2016 to broaden its audience. On April 4, 2016, Disney announced COO Thomas O. Staggs, who was thought to be next in line after Iger, would leave the company in May 2016, ending his 26-year career with Disney. Shanghai Disneyland opened on June 16, 2016, as the company's sixth theme-park resort. In a move to start a streaming service, Disney bought 33% of the stock in Major League Baseball technology company BAMtech for $1 billion in August. In 2016, four Disney film releases made over $1 billion; these were the animated film Zootopia, Marvel film Captain America: Civil War, Pixar film Finding Dory, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, making Disney the first studio to surpass $3 billion at the domestic box office. Disney also made an attempt to buy social media platform Twitter to market their content and merchandise but ultimately canceled the deal; Iger stated this was because he thought Disney would be taking on responsibilities it did not need and that it did not "feel Disney" to him.On March 23, 2017, Disney announced Iger had agreed to a one-year extension of his term as CEO to July 2, 2019, and to remain with the company as a consultant for three years. On August 8, 2017, Disney announced it would be ending its distribution deal with streaming service Netflix, with the intent of launching its own streaming platform built with BAMtech's technology by 2019. During that time, Disney paid $1.5 billion to acquire a 75% stake in BAMtech. Disney also planned to start an ESPN streaming service with about "10,000 live regional, national, and international games and events a year" by 2018. In November, CCO John Lasseter said he would take a six-month absence from the company because of "missteps", which were later reported to be sexual misconduct allegations.  The same month, Disney and 21st Century Fox started negotiating a deal in which Disney would acquire most of Fox's assets. Beginning in March 2018, a strategic reorganization of the company led to the creation of business segments Disney Parks, Experiences and Products and Direct-to-Consumer & International. Parks & Consumer Products was primarily a merger of Parks & Resorts and Consumer Products & Interactive Media, while Direct-to-Consumer & International took over for Disney International and global sales, distribution, and streaming units from Disney-ABC TV Group and Studios Entertainment plus Disney Digital Network. CEO Iger described it as "strategically positioning our businesses for the future" while according to The New York Times, the reorganization was done in expectation of the 21st Century Fox purchase.In 2017, two of Disney's films had revenues of over $1 billion; the live-action Beauty and the Beast and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Disney launched subscription sports streaming service ESPN+ on April 12. In June 2018, Lasseter's departure from  the company by the end of the year was announced; he would stay as a consultant until then. To replace him; Disney promoted Jennifer Lee, co-director of Frozen and co-writer of Wreck-it Ralph (2012), as head of Walt Disney Animation Studios; and Pete Docter, who had been with Pixar since 1990 and directed Up, The Incredibles, and Inside Out, as head of Pixar. Later that month, Comcast offered to buy 21st Century Fox for $65 billion over Disney's $51 billion bid but withdrew its offer after Disney countered with a $71 billion bid; and Comcast shifted focus to buy Fox's Sky plc instead. Disney obtained an AntiTrust approval from the United States Department of Justice to acquire Fox. Disney again made $7 billion at the box office with three film that made $1 billion; Marvel films Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War—the latter taking over $2 billion and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film ever— and Pixar film Incredibles 2.
On March 20, 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox's assets for $71.3 billion from Rupert Murdoch, making it the biggest acquisition in Disney's history. After the purchase, The New York Times described Disney as "an entertainment colossus the size of which the world has never seen". Through the acquisition, Disney gained 20th Century Fox; 20th Century Fox Television; Fox Searchlight Pictures; National Geographic Partners; Fox Networks Group; Indian television broadcaster Star India; streaming service Hotstar; and a 30% stake in Hulu, bringing its ownership on Hulu to 60%. Fox Corporation and its assets were excluded from the deal because of antitrust laws. Disney also became the first film studio to have seven films gross $1 billion: Marvel's Captain Marvel, the live action Aladdin, Pixar's Toy Story 4, the CGI remake of The Lion King, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the highest-grossing film of all time up to that point at $2.797 billion Avengers: Endgame. On November 12, Disney's subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service Disney+, which had 500 movies and 7,500 episodes of television shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and other brands, was launched in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. Within the first day, the streaming platform had over 10 million subscriptions; and by 2022 it had over 135 million subscribers, and was available in over 190 countries. At the beginning of 2020, Disney removed the Fox name from its assets, rebranding them as 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures.
Bob Chapek's leadership, and COVID-19 pandemicBob Chapek, who had been with the company for 18 years and was chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, became CEO of Disney after Iger resigned on February 25, 2020. Iger said he would stay with the company as an Executive Chairman until December 31, 2021, to help with its creative strategy. In April, Iger resumed operational duties as executive chairman to help the company during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Chapek was appointed to the board of directors. During the pandemic, Disney closed all of its theme parks, delayed the release of several movies, and stopped all operations on its cruise line. Due to the closures, Disney announced it would stop paying 100,000 employees but would still provide full healthcare benefits, and urged U.S. employees to apply for government benefits, saving the company $500 million a month. Iger gave up his $47.5 million salary and Chapek took a 50% salary reduction.In the company's second fiscal quarter of 2020, Disney reported a $1.4 billion loss, with a fall in earnings of 91% to $475 million from the previous year's $5.4 billion. By August, two-thirds of the company was owned by large financial institutions. In September, the company dismissed 28,000 employees, 67% of whom were part-time workers, from its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Chairman of the division Josh D'Amaro wrote; "We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal. Seven months later, we find that has not been the case." Disney lost $4.7 billion in its fiscal third quarter of 2020. In November, Disney laid off another 4,000 employees from the Parks, Experiences and Products division, raising the total to 32,000 employees. The following month, Disney named Alan Bergman as chairman of its Disney Studios Content division to oversee its film studios. Due to the COVID-19 recession, Disney closed its animation studio Blue Sky Studios in February 2021. Touchstone Television ceased operations in December, and Disney announced in March 2021 it would be launching a new division called 20th Television Animation to focus on mature audiences. In April, Disney and Sony agreed to a multi-year licensing deal that would give Disney access to Sony's films from 2022 to 2026 to televise or stream on Disney+ once Sony's deal with Netflix ended. Although it performed poorly at the box office because of COVID-19, Disney's animated film Encanto (2021) was one of the biggest hits during the pandemic, with its song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" becoming popular.After Iger's term as executive chairman ended on December 31, he announced he would also resign as chairman of the board. To replace him, the company brought in an operating executive at The Carlyle Group and current board member Susan Arnold as Disney's first female chairperson. On March 10, Disney ceased all operations in Russia because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and was the first major Hollywood studio to halt the release of a major motion picture due to Russia's invasion; other movie studios followed soon after. In March 2022, around 60 employees protested the company's silence on the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act that was dubbed the Don't Say Gay Bill, and prohibits non-age-appropriate classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida's public-school districts. The protest was dubbed the "Disney Do Better Walkout"; employees protested near a Disney Studios lot for about a week, and some other employees voiced their concerns through social media. Employees called on Disney to stop campaign contributions to Florida politicians who supported the bill, to help protect employees from it, and to stop construction at Walt Disney World in Florida. Chapek responded by stating the company had made a mistake by staying silent and said; "We pledge our ongoing support of the LGBTQ+ community".Amid Disney's response to the bill, the Florida Legislature passed a bill to remove Disney's quasi-government district Reedy Creek; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill, which took effect on June 1. On June 28, Disney's board members unanimously agreed to give Chapek a three-year contract extension. In August, Disney Streaming exceeded Netflix in total subscriptions with 221 million subscribers compared to Netflix's 220 million.
Bob Iger's return and 100th anniversaryOn November 20, 2022, Iger accepted the position of Disney's CEO after Chapek was dismissed following poor earnings performance and a series of decisions that were unpopular with other executives. The board announced Iger would serve for two years with a mandate to develop a strategy for renewed growth and help identify a successor.In February 2023, Disney announced that it would be cutting $5.5 billion in costs, which includes eliminating 7,000 jobs representing 3% of its workforce. Disney plans to reorganize into three divisions: Entertainment, ESPN, and Parks, Experiences and Products.In the last week of April 2023, Disney will implement the second and largest wave of job cuts, affecting Disney Parks, Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and the Experiences and Product division. This move is part of the company's plan to cut costs by $5.5 billion.In 2023, Disney began its "100 Years of Wonder" campaign in celebration of the centennial anniversary of the company's founding. This included a new animated centennial logo intro for the Walt Disney Pictures division, a touring exhibition, special events at the parks and a well-received commemorative commercial that aired during Super Bowl LVII.