After extended negotiations, Disney ultimately agreed on January 24, 2006, to buy Pixar for approximately $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal. Following Pixar shareholder approval, the acquisition was completed on May 5, 2006.
How much was the acquisition deal between Disney and Pixar?
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24 - The Walt Disney Company said Tuesday that it would acquire Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion in a stock deal that not only gives Pixar's chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, a powerful role in Hollywood but also stirs hopes for rekindling the animated storytelling tradition at Disney.
What company did Disney Corporation purchase in 2006?
Disney acquired “Toy Story” creator Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion. The company became the owner of the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises following the purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012.
Getting acquired by Disney would provide Pixar a better position in the market against competitors like Lucasfilm, DreamWorks, Universal, etc. Disney was having experience in the animation industry and has assets like theme parks.
What Steve Jobs Told Bob Iger Just Before Disney Bought Pixar
How successful was the Disney Pixar merger?
Walt Disney and Pixar's merger was one of the most successful corporate mergers in recent years. Both companies gained from this acquisition. It helped Disney because of Pixar's technology and innovative ideas in the animation industry. Till now, this combination has produced dozens of new Hollywood blockbusters.
Disney's acquisition of Pixar had both benefits and implications for both parties involved. By acquiring Pixar, Disney was given access to Pixar's proprietary technology, which was an important factor, as well as access to new characters.
Pixar began in 1979, known as Graphics Group, owned by George Lucas, the producer of Star Wars. Then in 1982, it became Pixar Studios, owned by Disney, with John Lasseter, as chief creative officer.
All the character models and assets began erasing. Oren Jacob, who eventually became the Chief Technical Officer for Pixar, worked as an associate technical director for Toy Story 2. In 2012, he talked to The Next Web about what happened.
In 2006 High School Musical aired on Disney Channel and become an overnight sensation. In May, Disney made a major purchase of Pixar Animation Studios. Disney•Pixar's Cars was released in June.
Jobs had bought Pixar from George Lucas for $10 million. At first, Pixar seemed like a bottomless money pit. Then in 1995 came "Toy Story." It was the first computer-animated full-length feature.
Steve Jobs had invested $5 million in animation film studio Pixar after he had left Apple in 1985, and became a billionaire for the first time when Pixar went public in 1995. Jobs later sold Pixar to the Walt Disney Company in 2006 for over $7 billion, and became Disney's largest individual shareholder with a 7% stake.
As if its pockets weren't deep enough, 21st Century Fox was the most expensive company Disney ever bought. In December 2017, the Mouse House announced its acquisition of Fox's entertainment division for $71.3 billion with the purchase going through in March 2019.
The story of how a Pixar employee accidentally deleted the entire Toy Story 2 film has resurfaced on twitter. In 1998, Pixar was getting ready to release Toy Story 2. The film was nearly complete and final edits were being made, but when someone hit the wrong button, the movie's files began to disappear.
Pixar producer Gayln Susman is best knowing for saving Toy Story 2 back in 1998 after another employee accidentally deleted most of the film's files when hitting a wrong command. The then technical-director thankfully had a backup copy of the film at her house after she was working from home whilst on maternity leave.
The story goes that an unnamed Pixar employee was doing some routine file clearance on internal servers when they accidentally entered a deletion command on Toy Story 2's root folder. This resulted in character models and assets disappearing, and the file servers were quickly shut down.
By the early 2000s, when Pixar was making movies on its own, Disney was desperate to catch up. Jobs sold the company to Disney in January 2006 for $7.4 billion. After the acquisition, Jobs owned roughly 7% of Disney, making him the single largest shareholder.
Well, Pixar's massive success is often credited in part to Steve Jobs, Pixar's former owner and CEO. Jobs purchased Pixar from Lucasfilm in 1985 after being pushed out of Apple and was the the studio's largest shareholder until it was sold to Disney in 2006.
Nov 28 (Reuters) - Walt Disney (DIS.N) CEO Bob Iger told employees he faced a "myriad of challenges" upon returning to the company but he remained upbeat about its prospects.
1986. Steve Jobs purchases the Computer Division from George Lucas and establishes the group as an independent company, “Pixar.” At this time about 40 people are employed.
