 | |
 The Walt Disney Studios, the company's headquarters in Burbank, California, 2016 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| ISIN | US2546871060 |
| Industry | |
| Predecessor | Laugh-O-Gram Studio |
| Founded | October 16, 1923 |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | The Walt Disney Studios, , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | |
| Revenue |  US$91.361 billion (FY24) |
| US$15.601 billion (FY24) | |
| US$4.972 billion (FY24) | |
| Total assets |  US$196.219 billion (FY24) |
| Total equity | US$105.522 billion (FY24) |
Number of employees | 225,000 (FY23) |
| Divisions | |
| Subsidiaries | National Geographic Partners (73%) |
| Website | thewaltdisneycompany |
| Footnotes / references Financials as of fiscal year ended September 30, 2023[update]. References:[1][2][3] | |
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing it to its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse,[4] who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.[not verified in body]
After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation division, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation in the 1990s. In 2005, under new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.[5]
The company is known for its film studio division, the 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 television 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+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, 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 was ranked number 48 on the 2023 Fortune 500 list of biggest companies in the United States by revenue.[6] In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 87.[7] Since its founding, the company has won 135 Academy Awards, 26 of which were 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. 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, about two-thirds of the stock was owned by large financial institutions. The company celebrated their 100th anniversary on October 16, 2023.
- ^ "Walt Disney". Fortune. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ "The Walt Disney Company Form 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. November 21, 2023. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023.
- ^ Gibson, Kate (June 24, 2022). "Disney among slew of U.S. companies promising to cover abortion travel costs". CBS News. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
- ^ Davis, Elizabeth (June 25, 2019). "Historically yours: Mickey Mouse is born". Jefferson City News Tribune. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ "Disney Shocker! Bob Iger Back As CEO, Bob Chapek Out". Deadline. November 20, 2022. Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ Stankova, Monica (December 6, 2023). "Fortune 500 List of Companies 2023 and Their Domain Name Choices". Smart Branding. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "The Global 2000 2023". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.