The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, the third largest (behind Time Warner and News Corp) multimedia corporation in the world, was founded by Walt and Roy Disney in 1923. Originally an animation studio, Disney now has interests in all aspects of entertainment media all over the world.

On May 5, 2009, Disney reported a 46-percent plunge in profits for January through March of 2009, compared to the same quarter of 2008. The loss was blamed on lower consumer spending, on both Disney DVDs and theme park vacations, as well as costly discounting and restructuring that the company had instituted in light of the recession.Orlando Sentinel: Walt Disney Co. reports 46% drop in quarterly profit as revenue falls 7% (May 5, 2009)

The Walt Disney Company consists of four business segments that play off of one another for cross-promotional gain: Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products, and Media Networks. Besides the eleven well-recognized theme parks and resort locations on three continents, companies and media entities under the Disney umbrella include Touchstone Pictures, Miramax Films, Hollywood Records, Hyperion Books, ABC television networks, ESPN, Jetix, SOAPNet, GO.com, the Baby Einstein company, Muppets Studio, and others.

Steve Jobs was appointed Disney's board of director in 2006 after the company purchased Pixar Animation Studios, where he was formerly chairman and CEO.i4u: Official: Disney Buys Pixar for $7.4 Billion - Steve Jobs Joins Disney's Board (January 26, 2006)

Jobs is currently on six months medical leave from Apple, at the same time he is up for re-election ass board member for Disney. Despite the fact that Jobs seems to have already won the support of Disney's current CEO Robert Iger, critics don’t understand how he can run the company while he's not well enough to run his own. tgdaily: Disney caught in controversy over Steve Jobs' health (January 20, 2009)

Jobs is the largest single shareholder in Disney, with 7.4 per cent of the shares. Inquirer: [http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/514/1050514/steve-jobs-run-disney Steve Jobs well enough to run Disney (January 20, 2009)

In March 2009 Disney launched their first authorized community website designed for fans of the franchise. Named D23, after the founding of the empire in 1923, the launch also corresponds with the new quarterly newsletter, Disney twenty-three.PRNewsWire: Disney announces D23... (March 10, 2009)