What Companies Does Disney Own? Marvel, Pixar & More

Not many companies can plausibly claim that they own “the happiest place on earth” or that they have remained true to their founder’s vision in 101 years of existence.

Over the decades, though, the technology and other resources at Disney’s disposal have expanded considerably.

In order to take advantage of these new opportunities, the number of major companies Disney owns has grown steadily.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Top 5 Companies Owned by Disney
3. Top 8 Disney-Owned Franchises
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Top 5 Companies Owned by Disney
3. Top 8 Disney-Owned Franchises
Show Full Guide
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Top 5 Companies Owned by Disney

The Walt Disney Company’s activities span sports broadcasting, tourism, merchandising, music, film and other media production and publishing, as well as conventional and online entertainment content delivery.

Its balance sheet amounts to just under $200 billion, of which an estimated $20 billion consists of various forms of intellectual property.

Many of its other assets consist of a number of subsidiaries.

So, what companies does Disney own, exactly?

We’ve compiled a list of the largest Disney acquisitions in descending order of acquiring price.

1. 21st Century Fox (2019) – $71 Billion

At the time, Fox comprised film and television studios, cable platforms, a considerable stake in the Hulu streaming service, and several broadcast TV channels. (Disney later bought the remaining stake in Hulu from Comcast, meaning Disney owns 100% of Hulu.)

Disney was not, however, interested in the latter. The Federal Communications Commission would have had to ask: “What does Disney own that would step on anti-trust regulations?”

Since Disney had already acquired ABC and all its TV channels, expanding Disney’s television footprint in this way would have been unfeasible.

In fact, Disney’s primary aim in pursuing the deal was to bolster its own fledgling streaming service, now called Disney+. Disney acquired the technology for Disney+ from tech company BAMTech between 2015 and 2022.

For Disney+ to be a success, it needed lots of content, something comparable to industry leader Netflix, which had been busy developing many of its own shows exclusively available to Netflix customers.

Acquiring Fox’s large existing media library would make Disney’s streaming platform more attractive to users. Adding Fox’s extensive media library was a strategic move to enhance the appeal of Disney’s streaming platform.

This goal was seen as important enough for the company to enter a bidding war with Comcast for Fox’s assets. Disney also gained the rights to several worthwhile film and TV franchises including The Simpsons, Deadpool, and X-Men.

2. ABC (1996) – $19 Billion

These two companies go way back: In 1954, the American Broadcasting Corporation helped finance Disneyland in return for Walt Disney producing a TV series for them. ABC was a one-third owner of the theme park until it was bought out in 1960.

Thirty-five years later, a merger between the broadcaster and Disney was announced, adding ABC to the companies owned by Disney.

This gave the latter ownership of several TV and radio stations and a number of important television properties, including A&E, The History Channel, and 80% of ESPN.

This purchase marked the first time Disney could distribute their content directly to American homes; in prior years, it had largely been a movie studio and theme park operator.

3. Pixar (2006) – $7.4 Billion

Bob Iger took over as CEO of Disney in 2000, having previously been president and COO of ABC until the above-mentioned merger was finalized.

Iger remains widely respected for his forward-looking leadership at a time when new production and distribution technologies were coming into their own.

Aside from increasing Disney’s market share internationally, he convinced its board to buy several intellectual properties while also bolstering the company’s technical competence.

As part of this strategy, it made sense to ensure Disney does own Pixar outright instead of simply collaborating on movies as they’d been doing since the early 1990s.

In 2006, it bought 100% of this digital animation studio, paying in newly issued Disney shares.

Pixar was already well-known for films such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, and had won a total of 20 Academy Awards by this point.

4. Lucasfilm (2012) – $4 Billion

In 2011, the founder of Lucasfilm, George Lucas, approached Iger about the possibility of selling the company.

The two organizations already shared a cooperative relationship, something that’s true of most (though not all) companies Disney owns today.

This deal included valuable Star Wars and Indiana Jones intellectual properties and Lucasfilm’s movie studio, visual effects, video games, and other divisions.

Half of the purchase price was paid in cash, and the remainder in Disney shares. This made Lucas the second-largest non-institutional shareholder in the company at that time, after former Pixar CEO Steve Jobs.

5. Marvel (2009) – $4 Billion

Comic book sales had been in decline for some time—Marvel filed for bankruptcy in 1996. However, their newly-formed studio division showed promise with the 2008 release of the films Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.

At the end of the next year, Disney bought out its shareholders’ stakes with a mixture of cash and Disney stock, converting Marvel into a private company afterward.

This also transferred ownership of the rights to use approximately 5,000 comic book characters, collectively known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So far, films based on these have grossed approximately $30 billion at the box office.

Top 8 Disney-Owned Franchises

A large part of an entertainment company’s intellectual property is made up of songs, scripts, and other written material, as well as edited and raw footage.

From a strategic perspective, though, ownership of the characters, settings, and stories of certain popular movie and television brands may be even more valuable.

Some of these money-spinners owned by Disney include:

It would be difficult to compile a list of absolutely everything Disney owns, even if you restrict yourself to those intangible assets that continue to generate money.

In addition to the rights to produce sequels or derivative works in the same or another medium, Disney also possesses an exclusive (in most cases) license to sell related merchandise like toys and clothing.

These products contribute approximately $50 billion per year to the company’s bottom line.

The Bottom Line

The last two decades have seen major shifts in the entertainment landscape, including the consolidation of several formerly independent companies under the umbrellas of a few behemoths.

This creates certain economies of scale and collaboration opportunities that smaller studios and streaming networks can hardly hope to match.

How many companies does Disney own? In this corporation’s case, a thoughtful yet aggressive strategy of mergers and acquisitions has significantly broadened its market footprint, technological capabilities, and intellectual property catalog.

While some of these moves have been controversial, the DIS stock itself remains generally attractive, especially to investors who take a long-term view.

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