It's True
From MSNBC
LOS ANGELES - The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it is buying longtime partner Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion in stock in a deal that could restore Disney’s clout in animation while vaulting Pixar CEO Steve Jobs into a powerful role at the media conglomerate.
Disney’s purchase of the maker of the blockbuster films “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo” would make Jobs Disney’s largest shareholder. Jobs, who owns more than half of Pixar’s shares and also heads Apple Computer Inc., will become a Disney director.
“With this transaction, we welcome and embrace Pixar’s unique culture, which for two decades, has fostered some of the most innovative and successful films in history,” Disney Chief Executive Robert A. Iger said in a statement.
Disney has co-financed and distributed Pixar’s animated films for the past 12 years, splitting the profits. That deal expires in June after Pixar delivers “Cars,” and it had once appeared the companies would not renew it amid friction between Jobs and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
But the talks revived under Iger, who became Disney CEO last October. Disney, the theme park owner that also owns the ABC and ESPN TV networks, and Pixar had discussed a new relationship for months.
Pixar Executive Vice President John Lasseter will become chief creative officer of the animation studios and principal creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs and builds the company’s theme parks.
Lasseter began his career as a Disney animator and is the creative force behind Pixar’s films. He will report directly to Iger.
(See the 2 photos below this post.)
LOS ANGELES - The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it is buying longtime partner Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion in stock in a deal that could restore Disney’s clout in animation while vaulting Pixar CEO Steve Jobs into a powerful role at the media conglomerate.
Disney’s purchase of the maker of the blockbuster films “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo” would make Jobs Disney’s largest shareholder. Jobs, who owns more than half of Pixar’s shares and also heads Apple Computer Inc., will become a Disney director.
“With this transaction, we welcome and embrace Pixar’s unique culture, which for two decades, has fostered some of the most innovative and successful films in history,” Disney Chief Executive Robert A. Iger said in a statement.
Disney has co-financed and distributed Pixar’s animated films for the past 12 years, splitting the profits. That deal expires in June after Pixar delivers “Cars,” and it had once appeared the companies would not renew it amid friction between Jobs and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
But the talks revived under Iger, who became Disney CEO last October. Disney, the theme park owner that also owns the ABC and ESPN TV networks, and Pixar had discussed a new relationship for months.
Pixar Executive Vice President John Lasseter will become chief creative officer of the animation studios and principal creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs and builds the company’s theme parks.
Lasseter began his career as a Disney animator and is the creative force behind Pixar’s films. He will report directly to Iger.
(See the 2 photos below this post.)
posted by ss at 5:50 AM
<< Home