Above: How BIG Is The Walt Disney Company?
The Walt Disney Company is one of the most well known brands today, but how did it all begin and how big is The Walt Disney Company today? The answer may surprise you.
About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is an American multinational media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Southern California. It is one of the world’s largest media conglomerates in terms of revenue. The Walt Disney Company was founded on October 16, 1923 by Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, and established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and theme parks. The company also operated under the names The Walt Disney Studio, then Walt Disney Productions. Taking on its current name in 1986, it expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused on theater, radio, music, publishing, and online media.
In addition, The Walt Disney Company has since created corporate divisions in order to market more mature content than is typically associated with its flagship family oriented brands. The Walt Disney Company is best known for the products of its film studio, Walt Disney Studios, which is today one of the largest and best known movie studios in American cinema. The Walt Disney Company’s other three main divisions are Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney Media Networks, and Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.
The Walt Disney Company also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network, cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A+E Networks, and Freeform (formerly ABC Family) in addition to having publishing, merchandising, music, and theatre divisions. The Walt Disney Company also owns and licenses 14 theme parks around the world with Mickey Mouse, an early and well known cartoon creation of the company, being its primary symbol and mascot.
The Walt Disney Company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991 and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DIS. The Walt Disney Company has a market value of approximately $160 billion United States dollars (this is how much money it would cost you if you wanted to purchase the entire Walt Disney Company).