Pixar reanimates Disney

Mr D

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Its a done deal, Disney greenlighted the purchase of Pixar for the amount of 7 billion dollars but with Steve Jobs the majority shareholder it actually appears that Pixar now controls the decision making of the Walt Disney Company.

Its a new era for Disney.
 
It has been said that Jobs will become the largest shareholder of Disney. He will still be far from the majority shareholder. Disney's current market cap just under $50 billion. If Jobs gets about $3.5 billion worth of shares, he'd own a little less than 8% of the company.
 
At 8% he'd have a larger share than the Bass Brothers had and their decisions were quite far reaching and long term, as we know. How much more stock than Michael had will Jobs have? Anyone?

He'll definately be able to push his agenda to the forefront but it will be different from Eisner as the Board isn't stacked with his cronies yet. If this starts to happen the winds of change could be significant.
pirate:
 

Yes most Employee's at Pixar will become instant Millionairs do this .The only problem is that none are under contract including Jobs so they could take Disney's money and just walk awat and create PIXAR II .

I hope this is what the holdup is it's not a done deal yet.

I think it is good for Disney but they need to Shore up those loose ends.
 
So does that mean that people at Disney can just say "Toy Story" rather than

Walt Disney Studios presents a Pixar animation "Toy Story"

Becuase that REALLY REALLY bugs me... Like if you watch the old planning video the poor woman explaining the "Block Party Bash" at Disneyland looks like she is going CRAZY
 
At 8% he'd have a larger share than the Bass Brothers had and their decisions were quite far reaching and long term, as we know. How much more stock than Michael had will Jobs have? Anyone?

Pete, I may be off a bit on these numbers. The Bass Brothers held about 25% of Disney stock at one time. Now, they are down to around 2% (I think).

Eisner still holds about 2%.
 
Peter Pirate said:
He'll definately be able to push his agenda to the forefront but it will be different from Eisner as the Board isn't stacked with his cronies yet. If this starts to happen the winds of change could be significant.
pirate:

In 3 to 5 years Jobs will be as hated as Eisner was.
 
tmt martins said:
The only problem is that none are under contract including Jobs so they could take Disney's money and just walk awat and create PIXAR II .
John Lasseter is under contract.
 
At 8% he'd have a larger share than the Bass Brothers had and their decisions were quite far reaching and long term, as we know.
The Bass Brothers had a larger influence than just their shares would have allowed because of their relationship with Roy Disney. Between them they had a number of board seats. Besides the one being offered Steve Jobs, there's no indication yet he'll be allowed to bring others with him.
 
tmt martins said:
Yes most Employee's at Pixar will become instant Millionairs do this .The only problem is that none are under contract including Jobs so they could take Disney's money and just walk awat and create PIXAR II .

DancingBear said:
John Lasseter is under contract.

According to http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/060124/1219191.html?.v=1
Lasseter is the only Pixar executive NOT under contract.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Pirate
He'll definately be able to push his agenda to the forefront but it will be different from Eisner as the Board isn't stacked with his cronies yet. If this starts to happen the winds of change could be significant.



In 3 to 5 years Jobs will be as hated as Eisner was.

If they can work out a deal and Steve Jobs eventually tries to push his agenda to the forefront, is that necessarily a bad thing? If you look at what he has done over the past few years, I’d say it could mean good things for Disney.

You can start with Apple that was about to go belly up just before he went back. Now it has the largest web music store and MP3 player that will not be challenged anytime soon. Even the Macs are making a pretty good strive to become the hardware of choice in the home and office. Then as we all know, Pixar has become the Animation studio that everyone wants to be like. In my opinion it produces nothing but quality movies, while the other studios put out a good one, a bad one, anther good... they don’t care. So really the point is, if he pushes his agenda I really think you can’t expect mediocrity from what he stands behind. Quality seems to always be first and foremost. Just my thought about it.
 
markP said:
So really the point is, if he pushes his agenda I really think you can’t expect mediocrity from what he stands behind. Quality seems to always be first and foremost. Just my thought about it.

I think this is the key. Although Apple's computers and MP3 players cost more than the competition, people continue to buy them for the high quality experience. If Jobs can bring this mindset to Disney (or should I say, return this mindset to Disney), Disney will soon be back in it's heyday of providing high quality entertainment and attractions that people will be happy to pay to experience, instead of providing mediocre entertainment and attractions which have been budget-axed to near death by the accountants and which oftentimes disappoint.
 
mochabean said:
According to http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/060124/1219191.html?.v=1
Lasseter is the only Pixar executive NOT under contract.
Well, Pixar's last 10-K says:

In March 2001, we entered into an employment agreement with John Lasseter (the “Employment Agreement”), which has a term of 10 years. The Employment Agreement supersedes our prior employment agreement with Mr. Lasseter, which was entered into in February 1997. Pursuant to the Employment Agreement, Mr. Lasseter received a signing bonus of $5,000,000, of which $60,000 was paid to a third party. The Employment Agreement provided for an initial annual salary of $2,500,000 with 5% annual increases. In connection with the Employment Agreement, Mr. Lasseter was granted an option to purchase 1,000,000 shares of our Common Stock at the fair market value on the date of such grant. The option vests on an equal monthly basis over the ten-year term of the agreement, except for options that vest on the last month will vest on the penultimate month of this ten-year period. Under the Employment Agreement, Mr. Lasseter will direct three Feature Films (a Feature Film is defined as a feature-length animated motion picture) and he has the option to direct certain sequels to Feature Films he has directed if we elect to produce such sequels within 12 years of the initial release of the applicable Feature Film. In addition, at our request, Mr. Lasseter will provide writing services and supervisory services to create stories, treatments and screenplays for Feature Films, and Mr. Lasseter will also provide executive producing services on Feature Films, made-for-home videos and short-subject motion pictures that Mr. Lasseter does not direct. During the term of the Employment Agreement, Mr. Lasseter is prohibited from accepting other employment and from becoming financially interested or associated with any entity engaged in a related or competitive business. We can terminate the Employment Agreement at any time for any reason. If we terminate Mr. Lasseter’s employment without cause, we must (1) pay an amount equal to 75% of the balance of the salary Mr. Lasseter would have earned through the remainder of the term of the Employment Agreement and (2) accelerate the unvested portion of Mr. Lasseter’s option so that the option would be exercisable in full. In addition, Mr. Lasseter would be able to accept employment with any third party. In the event of a “change of control,” as defined in the Employment Agreement, we must accelerate the unvested portion of Mr. Lasseter’s option so that the option would be exercisable in full, and we may be required to pay Mr. Lasseter certain payments described in the Employment Agreement.

It's the only Employment Agreement described in the 10-K, so presumably none of the other Pixar officers have one.
 
mochabean said:
According to http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/060124/1219191.html?.v=1
Lasseter is the only Pixar executive NOT under contract.


Now thats interesting our Local paper had just the opposite Lasseter the only one with a contract.
Who knows I think they have a real good thing going on and don't really see any changes but more cross over promotions .This can only be a good thing for all of US .
 
I thought I read somewhere that part of the reason for the Pixar sale to Disney was because Steve Jobs wanted to focus more on Apple? I may be mistaken, but if it is true, how much time would Mr. Jobs be devoting to pushing his agenda or to changes at Disney?
 
Just heard on CNBC that Lasseter will become a head of Disney Imagineering. To me, that's pretty darn exciting.
 
[
RyMickey said:
Just heard on CNBC that Lasseter will become a head of Disney Imagineering. To me, that's pretty darn exciting.

That would be a good thing.

Explain Please

If Jobs doesn't start fancying himself a creative genius and doesn't exhibit his own tendencies for megalomania, then perhaps he'll avoid Eisner's fate. I think he has all of the bad traits that Eisner had with perhaps a bit more self-righteousness. Pixar succeeds because he lets Lasseter create and doesn't try to be Walt Disney. When Eisner fancied himself Walt and Roy all rolled into one he started getting into trouble. I think Jobs would have the same potential.
 
From CNNMoney:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Walt Disney has announced that it is buying Pixar, the animated studio led by Apple head Steve Jobs, in a deal worth $7.4 billion.

Speculation about a deal being imminent raged on Wall Street for the past few weeks. Disney has released all of Pixar's films so far but their current distribution deal was set to expire following the release of this summer's "Cars."

"Disney and Pixar can now collaborate without the barriers that come from two different companies with two different sets of shareholders," said Jobs. "Now, everyone can focus on what is most important, creating innovative stories, characters and films that delight millions of people around the world."

As part of the deal, Jobs will become a board member of Disney, the companies said. And John Lasseter, the widely respected creative director at Pixar who had previously worked for Disney, will rejoin the House of Mouse as chief creative officer for the company's combined animated studios and will also help oversee the design for new attractions at Disney theme parks.

"The addition of Pixar significantly enhances Disney animation, which is a critical creative engine for driving growth across our businesses," said Disney CEO Robert Iger in a written statement
 


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