Disney's Bob Iger: If Steve Jobs were still alive, we'd merge with Apple
Walt Disney Co. chairman and CEO Bob Iger was just 10 minutes away from announcing the company’s $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar when he learned that Steve Jobs cancer had returned back in 2006, however the longtime Disney executive says he believes he and Jobs would have likely merged Apple and Disney together had Jobs not passed away several years later.
Iger revealed the story in a sneak peak of his upcoming memoir, "The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company," an excerpt of which was printed on Vanity Fair’s website on Wednesday.
Iger was close with Jobs prior to his passing in Oct. 2011, writing that he was shocked to learn that Jobs’ pancreatic cancer had returned after over a nearly decade-long battle. However, even with the disease returning, the Disney-Pixar deal went through, with the transaction making Jobs the largest shareholder in Disney at the time.
The longtime Disney CEO, who took over for Michael Eisner in 2005, also revealed that if Jobs had lived, that Disney and Apple would have likely merged, despite the fact that the two companies are now competitors in the streaming media industry, with Iger having just resigned from the Apple board of directors last week.
“I believe that if Steve were still alive, we would have combined our companies, or at least discussed the possibility very seriously,” said Iger via Vanity Fair.
While pointing out the possibility of a Disney-Apple merger had Jobs’ cancer not returned, Iger also mentioned that the late chairman, CEO and co-founder of Apple Inc. had already vowed to not to deal with Disney again due to conflicts between the two companies prior to Iger came on the board.
“Among his many frustrations was a feeling that it was often too difficult to get anything done with Disney,” Iger wrote of Jobs’ frayed relationship with Disney.
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Iger’s memoir, published by Random House, is set for release on Sept. 23.
