Staggs resigns

[alphac2005]

Before mobile devices it was television that was making us antisocial. Before that the radio. Before that telephones. Before that newspapers. Before that it was pamphlets. Before that it was the theater. Despite this apparent antisocial addiction it is those who are younger who are desiring more dense living where they aren't physically removed from others, where copious amounts of time are not wasted alone in a car moving from isolated activity to isolated activity.

...but, the light emittance from devices like an iPad actual interfere with brain chemistry and alter sleeping among other things. That's a real issue that many prior instruments didn't have. When four teenagers sit at a table at a restaurant and each one of them is staring at a phone and not conversing, that's antisocial and it's rampant. We see it on a daily basis. People talking on the phone or using them when "talking" to someone at a store, checking out, etc., it's either antisocial or just simply rude.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I agree the analogy is weak.

But calling him a M&A genius is laughable. You couldn't/wouldn't have done the same thing(s) if you had access to billions of shareholder $$$? I don't even like Marvel and I still would have pulled the trigger on that and certainly on Pixar and Lucas. And really, who here would call either of us geniuses?

I think you're under-selling what Disney did with Marvel and Lucas. I'll grant that Pixar was pretty much a sure thing and the acquisition was obvious to anyone paying remote attention, but that wasn't the case with Marvel and the price tag paid for Lucas raised a lot of eyebrows. Marvel's only asset of any financial worth was their licensing deals for Sony and the X-men with third party studios. Disney transformed that into a self-contained box office and CP juggernaut based on B-list superheroes. Iger deserves credit for seeing the potential and then getting out of the way so that Feige, Favreau, Whedon, et al. could create their universe. With Lucas, I'll grant that any slob could have made any garbage movie called "Star Wars 7: Revenge of the Force" and it would have pulled $1B, but the resurrection of that property outside of nostalgic Gen Xers and into the zeitgeist has been remarkable. You like to tease the fanbois and whatnot, but the fact that Disney has created so many fanbois in the last 5-10 years is an achievement in itself.

Bob isn't either. Spending other people's money is easy. Just ask all the O-Town fanbois and Lifestylers living on the money of parents, ex-significant others, family, the government etc ... if you give me your money, I'll spend it. I'll even spend it wisely!

If you want an example of money spent poorly, take a peek at BvS: Dawn of Garbage.

 

[DisneyparkFreak]

Maybe ABC can have some sort of reality program for the replacement of Iger. "The Next CEO" only on ABC, while being simulcast on ESPN. It can be a cross between American Ninja Warrior, The Apprentice, Survivor, and This Old House. It would make millions and have the potential to synergize.

 

[Nemo14]

If it were Survivor, there would be several voted off the island a long time ago.

 

[LAKid53]

Time for the "Retheme-athon"

Hall of Presidents to iHop, brought to you by Apple
Enchanted Tiki Room, brought to you by Angry Birds
Imagination to Degeneration, brought to you by the Arthritis Foundation
SpaceBalls Earth, brought to you by Mel Brooks
Mexico, surrounded by the Wall
Big Thunder Mountain, brought to you by Lactaid
The Blackboard Jungle Cruise
The Haunted Mansion, brought to you by Donald Trump

I could go on...

If only I could like this a hundred times. Just the belly laugh I needed this morning, especially after my yard guy just pointed out a potential problem with my sprinkler system...a leak. :-(

Keep 'em coming.....

 

[lazyboy97o]

Disney transformed that into a self-contained box office and CP juggernaut based on B-list superheroes.

No, Disney did not do that. Marvel Studios did that and was already working on the Marvel Cinematic Universe when the acquisition occurred.

 

[LAKid53]

Dont laugh, I seen in various social media sites that someone related to Donald Trump is seen as a possible replacement.

Oh, no, not his daughter... I'd take Ms. Lean In before her.

 

[ToInfinityAndBeyond]

Disney's marketing/merchandising platform has definitely increased the reach of Marvel. It might have seemed like a strange investment in 2009, but look at how far they have come.

If you want an example of money spent poorly, take a peek at BvS: Dawn of Garbage.

Trashman v Trashman: Dumpster of Justice

 

[LAKid53]

Did enron and worldcom actually do firesales before going out?

If only they did. Would have given us time to divest our endowment portfolio of Enron stock and minimize that multi-million dollar loss we took...

 

[LAKid53]

Maybe ABC can have some sort of reality program for the replacement of Iger. "The Next CEO" only on ABC, while being simulcast on ESPN. It can be a cross between American Ninja Warrior, The Apprentice, Survivor, and This Old House. It would make millions and have the potential to synergize.

Hey, This Old House is too classy for this mix.

Can we get The Donald to say, "You're Fired!"?

 

[seascape]

I have a question. Since Disney can only take 25 percent of the China Movie Box Office out of China where can they put their share of the money other than a theme park and movie some movie production. If they didn't build Shanghai Disney then they would have had to leave their money money in China earning nothing.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

No, Disney did not do that. Marvel Studios did that and was already working on the Marvel Cinematic Universe when the acquisition occurred.

People forget this, but before Marvel was acquired by Disney they had to find financing to independently produce their features. Creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe was tremendous creative, legal and financial feat whose origins go back to the early 00's. In effect, Disney just replaced Meryill Lynch as their financier.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

People forget this, but before Marvel was acquired by Disney they had to find financing to independently produce their features. Creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe was tremendous creative, legal and financial feat whose origins go back to the early 00's. In effect, Disney just replaced Meryll Lynch as their financier.

Again, I'm not giving Iger credit for the "creative feat" here. But what you described is not a small thing. If it was so obvious and all you had to do was cut a few checks to make billions of dollars, then why didn't ComcastNewsCorpCBSViacomSony acquire Marvel? Making that acquisition carried tremendous risk for failure.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Oh, no, not his daughter... I'd take Ms. Lean In before her.

Aiside from her lack of experience running any creative businesses, Sheryl will likely not be seriously considered because she is a lateral replacement to Iger. She has shown no real interest in anything aside from technology and is more of a manager than a visionary. She's the Zuck's adult supervision.

 

[PhotoDave219]

unless Iger extends his reign 10 more years?

The board wont let him ... or so it seems

 

[LAKid53]

Aiside from her lack of experience running any creative businesses, Sheryl will likely not be seriously considered because she is a lateral replacement to Iger. She has shown no real interest in anything aside from technology and is more of a manager than a visionary. She's the Zuck's adult supervision.

Agree. Neither is a good choice. But if the BoD completely lost their collective minds and these two were their choices, I'd take Sheryl over Ivanka or whatever her name is. While she, as you pointed out, lacks the creative vision, at least she has experience running something other than portions of her daddy's company, if even that.

 

[Blairnicol]

The board wont let him ... or so it seems

Let's just hope perception is reality

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Again, I'm not giving Iger credit for the "creative feat" here. But what you described is not a small thing. If it was so obvious and all you had to do was cut a few checks to make billions of dollars, then why didn't ComcastNewsCorpCBSViacomSony acquire Marvel? Making that acquisition carried tremendous risk for failure.

The logic behind that question is flawed because there is an assumption that Marvel wanted to be acquired. Marvel, under Ike, has been a company that desires independence. To tweak your question, why didn't Marvel sell off a percentage of its slate, a sort of inverse version of slate financing, to a studio like Paramount to raise the funds to produce these films? Iron Man and Incredible Hulk, the only MCU films to come out before the Disney acquisition, were independent productions because banks like Meryill Lynch wanted to invest in these big budget comic book films with little interference on their part. (This was Legendary's business model before they were acquired by Wanda this year) Once Iron Man was a big hit, there was little doubt they wouldn't have continued using this model to finance their films.

So from that perspective, why did Ike and Marvel agree to be acquired by Disney? It's hard to turn down an offer to buy your company at a 29% premium. In fact, it would be irresponsible to not seriously consider it even if your financials were solid as MVL's were at the time. Disney needed Marvel more than Marvel needed them and Ike got a deal that allowed him to retain his autonomy and not have to go back to the banks for further financing longer term.

 

[Quinnmac000]

Again, I'm not giving Iger credit for the "creative feat" here. But what you described is not a small thing. If it was so obvious and all you had to do was cut a few checks to make billions of dollars, then why didn't ComcastNewsCorpCBSViacomSony acquire Marvel? Making that acquisition carried tremendous risk for failure.

Maybe because they would have to work with Ike who is probably the most frugal man in the existence of the entertainment industry which would cause a lot of unnecessary headbutting and stress. Sometimes its better for business not to work with certain people.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

So from that perspective, why did Ike and Marvel agree to be acquired by Disney? It's hard to turn down an offer to buy your company at a 29% premium.

This is the operative sentence in your analysis, and the part I give Iger credit for. You assume Marvel's market valuation was appropriate and that Disney paid a 29% premium. I counter that Marvel was actually trading at a 29% discount and Iger was the only one who identified it as such. I think the successes of the last ten years have proven Iger correct. I don't know who Alec Peters is or if he's credible, but he articulates what I'm getting at pretty well:

"Bob Iger probably knew the potential of Marvel even better than Marvel knew its own potential. He knows the entertainment industry better than anyone. Knowing your industry is critical when valuing these assets. There are people who know when to pay a premium. They might know that the book value is X, but they’ll pay one-and-a-half times X because they know what the asset’s value is to them, to Disney as an entertainment leader. And Bob Iger can probably eyeball that."

http://www.newsarama.com/24999-disney-s-4-billion-marvel-buy-was-it-worth-it.html