food IS a theme park
The Walt Disney Company is a multi-billion dollar company.
©The Walt Disney Company
Of course, that means that Disney has a LOT of shareholders and investors. The company does a lot of work to keep shareholders happy during quarterly earnings calls and, of course, the annual Investor Day. Now, a MASSIVE figure of Disney shares has been sold by a pretty prominent figure at the company.
The Walt Disney Company is recognized worldwide as a leading business in the entertainment industry.
What Doesn’t Disney Do?!
With six popular theme park destinations across the world, booming direct-to-consumer streaming services, and distribution of entertainment via multiple networks, Disney is doing a bit of everything these days. But, in order to achieve its unique status, the company has had to take some risks over the years — sometimes at the cost of $1 billion or more!!! Today, we’re taking a look at some of those $1 billion bets and whether they’ve worked out so far. How many times has Disney struck out and how many times have they hit a total home run? Let’s find out!
It has certainly been a unique year in Disney World and the whole world in general.
What a Year It’s Been, Right Walt & Mickey?
Last June, while the Disney World parks were closed, we took a look towards the future at what the remainder of the Disney World closure would look like. How long would it take for Disney to return to “normal”? We tried to analyze that the best we could based on the information we had at the time. So, how did we do? What did we get right and where have things been different? We’re breaking it all down for you here!
2020 was a challenging year for many businesses and individuals all around the world.
A Peek at Disney World Now
When it comes to the Walt Disney Company, 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in months where the theme parks were closed (Disneyland Paris is still closed at the moment), thousands of employees that were furloughed or laid off, and some big financial losses in the parks division. During 2020, some Disney executives also agreed to take some pay cuts — but did those pay cuts actually impact their salaries in a big way? We’re taking a look now.
Bob Iger — he was key to Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox, and so many other developments at Disney’s theme parks and beyond.
Bob Iger and Mickey Mouse! ©Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images
Iger has been with the Walt Disney Company for 15 years, but he has confirmed that he will be leaving the company at the end of this year. During a recent interview, Iger spoke about how Disney+ has been a beacon of hope, the importance of the reopening of Disneyland, and so much more. And now we’re sharing some of this big interview with you!
2020 was QUITE the year.
Disney World
You may remember the day that you heard Disney World or Disneyland would be closing temporarily due to the pandemic — I know I do. And you might remember watching Shanghai Disneyland reopen, that park being the first Disney park around the world to reopen after the closures. But, did you remember that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opened in Disney World literally DAYS before the parks closed? Or that several new movies in EPCOT debuted in early 2020? SO much happened in just one year. And today we’re breaking it all down for you.
Today, Disney World is hosting their 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, where a number of business items will be discussed along with potential announcements from Disney Parks, Studios, Direct-to-Consumer, and more!
Cinderella Castle
As the meeting began, Disney’s Chairman and former CEO Bob Iger made opening remarks, where he shared comments on the end of his time with the company.
Economically speaking, it has been a challenging year for many people, including the Walt Disney Company.
©CNBC
With the theme parks closed for several months, the company took a hard hit financially, eventually resulting in the layoffs of thousands of employees and temporary pay cuts for Disney’s executives. We received more insight on how this affected the company later in 2020 when Disney reported a $2.8 billion loss for the year during their Q4 earnings call. Today we have more information about Disney’s financials for last year, including how much their top executives were actually paid.Â
The rights to Marvel superheroes are kind of a confusing situation. Disney has the rights to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not totally. Universal has the theme park rights to the Marvel comic characters in Orlando and a deal with Disney not to produce any Marvel theme park content too close to their parks. Sony still has some of the rights to Spider-Man. Is your head hurting yet?
Spider-man: Far From Home ©Disney ©Sony
Sony and Disney have struck a deal for the past few films that allows Disney to make Spider-Man movies — which is how we got Peter Parker in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies like Avengers:Endgame. Then, in 2019, the dealings fell apart. It looked like Disney and Sony weren’t going to reach an agreement and that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man would be removed from the MCU. Until, suddenly, they DID make an agreement. Alright, alright, we’ll back up. How did we get here and what does it even all mean??
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things around the world.
Disney World’s Health and Safety Signs
Businesses big and small have felt the impact of the pandemic, as have their employees. Now, one of Disney’s leaders is doing something to help small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat throughout this pandemic.
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