On Wednesday, the Walt Disney Company officially closed its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox, completing a deal that was first announced back in December 2017. The deal gives Disney the reins to Fox’s film and TV studio, FX, National Geographic, and Fox’s 30 percent stake in Hulu (bumping Disney’s previous stake in the company up to 60 percent total) according to The Hollywood Reporter. Disney also now owns Star India, a media company that reaches hundreds of millions of viewers in India. The sprawling deal bumps the company up a peg in the content wars, giving an already powerful studio even greater reach as it prepares to launch its own streaming service in the next few months.
Disney chairman Bob Iger released a statement praising the deal.
“This is an extraordinary and historic moment for us—one that will create significant long-term value for our company and our shareholders,” he said. “Combining Disney’s and 21st Century Fox’s wealth of creative content and proven talent creates the pre-eminent global entertainment company, well-positioned to lead in an incredibly dynamic and transformative era.”
It’s an incredibly lucrative move for Disney. Per a 2017 regulatory filing, the company said its then-upcoming Fox acquisitions could add around $19.3 billion to its annual revenue stream, and $1.6 billion in net income, T.H.R. notes. However, the deal has caused turmoil within the ranks at Fox. As Vanity Fair previously reported, insiders think there could be anywhere between 4,000 to 10,000 layoffs as a result of the merger. One marketing exec described the feeling as an omnipresent elephant in the room as employees try to carry on, business as usual, knowing the ax could soon fall. Disney, insiders say, has been vague when it comes to giving current Fox employees business directives.
“Nobody has come around and said, ‘This is what’s going on.’ Why can’t they just tell us that there is no place for us? Why can’t they let anyone know?” a marketing exec told V.F. “We are not leaving because we didn’t make money for the company or we did a bad job. We are leaving because of pure capitalism.”
Before the end of the year, Disney will debut Disney+, a streaming service that will allow it to more fully compete with Amazon and Netflix. Acquiring Fox assets—such as superhero properties like The X-Men and Deadpool—just gave the company another leg up.
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