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Neo2199 OP t1_iy4jpf2 wrote

Reply to comment by Silicon_Knight in Bob Iger Tells Disney Town Hall Hiring Freeze Still In Effect, No New Acquisitions Planned & Not Merging With Apple by Neo2199

Bog Iger was a close friend to the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, he spoke a few times in the past about Disney/Apple merging.

Bob Iger says Apple & Disney would have merged if Steve Jobs was alive - Dec 21, 2021

> In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Iger noted that Jobs was passionate about "everything that Disney did." He said the late Apple co-founder and CEO always appreciate combining "great technology" with "great creativity."

> "The intersection — one side liberal arts, one side technology," Iger said. "That's what made his heart sing."

> Iger continued, adding that Disney's content would have been a natural fit for the way that Apple was changing how it delivers content to users.

> "I'm pretty convinced we would have had that discussion," Iger said. "I think we would have gotten there."

> This is not the first time that Iger has brought up the potential of an Apple-Disney merger if Jobs had lived. In his 2019 memoir, Iger said that he believed "if Steve were still alive, we would have combined our companies, or at least discussed the possibility very seriously."

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Silicon_Knight t1_iy4ruw9 wrote

Yes I read his book too quite a good read. Technically Iger was friends with Jobs wife and that relationship extended to Jobs eventually. I think Jobs would have but I didn’t say Jobs, I said Apple.

I stand by that I don’t think Apple would want to run a theme park today.

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browncharliebrown t1_iy9rsvi wrote

Apple running the parks would actually be quite interesting. Something like magic bands being fully replaced with Apple Watches. Or maybe apple improving computer systems for rides

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Yindeenia01 t1_iya7hoa wrote

Then they could give me a portion of the company. That would be the best day in history.

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Silicon_Knight t1_iya7ltu wrote

You can purchase a portion of the company on the stock market.

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Yindeenia01 t1_iya8iu5 wrote

I meant acquiring all Pixar and then some. I would definitely love to run a theme park. But the stock market is a great place to start.

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Flynn58 t1_iyalndw wrote

I mean they could create a larger corporate umbrella while keeping Apple and Disney separate business units with their own management.

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InformationLow4050 t1_iy5dgbj wrote

Wasn’t Jobs chairman of Disney before he passed?

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Neo2199 OP t1_iy5ewmk wrote

He was a member of Disney's board and the largest shareholder as well.

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AveryLazyCovfefe t1_iy5ko6u wrote

He did have a huge influence on early Pixar I believe. Which is why there are references to him quite a bit throughout Pixar movies, such as some characters in movies using iPhones or other apple products.

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griswald123 t1_iy5t6zf wrote

I mean he founded Pixar… so ya. Haha

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throwaway12junk t1_iy5xegg wrote

Not Jobs, George Lucas.

Pixar was created to design custom hardware for what we now call CGI. After Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, he bought Pixar from Lucasfilms to create a rival computer company. It failed largely because the brains behind the actual hardware was Steve Wozniak; Jobs was the marketing man.

This failure prompted Jobs to reverse Pixar back to CGI R&D. Around the same time they hired John Lasseter who was fired from Disney for promoting CG animation. On the brink of bankruptcy, Jobs let Lassiter do whatever he wanted. So he created Toy Story.

The financial success of that film, Apple failing without Jobs, and secret bankrolling from Warren Buffett allowed Jobs to return to Apple and set the stage for iTunes and iPod, later culminating into the iPhone and iPad.

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seakingsoyuz t1_iy919wp wrote

Your first paragraph is merging NeXT and Pixar, which were entirely separate companies.

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griswald123 t1_iy5zq5j wrote

Founded the Pixar we know today. He made them what they are. I guess founded isn’t technically correct. More like what Elon did with Tesla. Yes he didn’t found it, but bought and brought it to what it is today. Know one would know Pixar as we do a household name today if it wasn’t for Jobs.

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AveryLazyCovfefe t1_iy5tbsa wrote

I thought those were mere fables haha. Absolutely can see how Apple has had an impact on Disney now.

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tr3v1n t1_iy5wyer wrote

Pixar existed for years as part of ILM. Eventually George Lucas wanted to spin it off and that is where Steve Jobs comes in. He bought into it securing a controlling share. Calling this founding it seems weird to me since it was a thing without him. He was an investor.

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griswald123 t1_iy5tmg3 wrote

Walter Issacson’s biography on Jobs is great. Highly recommend. Amazing what was going on in that man’s brain.

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Pristine-Today4611 t1_iy7t4a3 wrote

Only way that would have happened is if Steve Job was given control of the whole company. Steve Jobs was a perfectionist he would never let someone else or any board dictate what he did.

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Brainiac7777777 t1_iyaxsac wrote

This is not true at all. Bob Iger was the Chairman of the Board of Apple

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