Market Milestones: Breaking E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (DD) and Building The Walt Disney Company (DIS)

Disney conquers the small screen
Four years after it joined the Dow, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) consolidated its position as the king of all media (sorry, Howard Stern) when it acquired Capital Cities/ABC on July 31, 1995. The $19 billion deal, which is still the largest acquisition in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)’s history, brought together two media entities with a four-decade relationship.

Onetime ABC honcho Leonard Goldenson began that relationship in 1953 when he provided funds through ABC for the construction of Disneyland. This not only gave ABC a stake in the House of Mouse that would be held until 1960, but also led to the airing of many popular Disney programs on ABC, beginning with 1954’s Disneyland and continuing through The Mickey Mouse Club and other programs. The deal also reunited Disney CEO Michael Eisner with his former employer. The legendary executive built his early reputation as ABC’s VP in charge of programming before moving to the corner office at Paramount, which eventually led to his position at The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS).

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) deal came as a big surprise to market watchers, who were not expecting a megadeal that would vault the House of Mouse into 11th place on the Fortune 500. The deal also came with its fair share of criticism: It may run afoul of antitrust regulation; ABC was growing much slower than the red-hot The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS); the deal failed to clarify who would succeed Eisner, who had recently undergone a quadruple bypass and endured several major executive losses. On the whole, it was viewed as an excellent deal. When it was finalized the following year, few could have expected ABC to become such an outsized part of Disney’s diversified business. The ESPN cable sports network alone now accounts for nearly half of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)’s market value.

The article Market Milestones: Breaking DuPont and Building Disney originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS). The Motley Fool owns shares of Walt Disney.

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