Disney CEO Bob Iger Says The Company Won't Be Sold To Apple
Bob Iger took over once again as the CEO of Disney last week. It was a bombshell bit of news, with Iger immediately taking the place of Bob Chapek, who had been heading up the company since February of 2020. Iger handed the keys to the Magic Kingdom to Chapek and, even taking the pandemic into account, things haven't gone well over the past couple of years. So Iger is now back in charge, and all eyes are on what he's going to do next. One thing he isn't going to do? Sell Disney to Apple.
On Monday, November 28, Iger addressed Disney employees during a town hall, answering all manner of questions about the future of the company now that he's back in control. One question that was addressed (per The Hollywood Reporter) had to do with Apple potentially buying Disney, a rumor that picked up a great deal of steam in recent days. (I even speculated about it on a recent episode of /Film Daily.) Addressing the topic head-on, Iger dismissed the notion as "pure speculation." So that's that, or so it would seem.
Much of this was drummed up by an article appearing in The Wrap speculating that Iger's ultimate goal would be to sell the company, with Apple being the logical destination. "He's going to sell the company. This is the pinnacle deal for the ultimate dealmaker," an insider was quoted as saying. But it seems, for now, that Iger is more focused on getting Disney's house in order, rather than making some new mega deal.
But will Disney buy anything else?
In fairness, the Apple deal didn't seem all that farfetched. Apple is getting into the media game with Apple TV+, but what they're missing is a big, attractive media library. There has been much speculation that Apple would make a play for a big company. And sure, Paramount is out there, Lionsgate is out there. But Disney? That makes it a different game. With Disney struggling and its stock recently hitting a multi-year low, now would seem like the time to strike.
Be that as it may, directly from Iger's mouth, this isn't happening. But what about Disney making another splashy acquisition? After all, under Iger's original tenure as CEO, he spearheaded acquisitions of Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and, most importantly, Fox. So why not make another play? Well, during the town hall, Iger also made it clear they are not looking to acquire anything as of right now:
"We have a great set of assets here...Nothing is forever, but I am very, very comfortable with each of the assets that we have."
Quite frankly, Disney is still saddled with nearly $50 billion in debut due to the gigantic Fox deal. So yeah, at a financially tumultuous time, making another purchase would make little sense. Being purchased would make more sense, but that's been taken off the table ... for now. With that, it's up to Mr. Robert Iger to steer the ship back in the right direction.