Posted on 05/07/2024 8:53:35 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Now that Disney management has won its proxy battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz, let's take a look at the Big Lie the company told to help keep shareholders on management's side.
Last month, the Mouse House released a detailed, 67-page report for investors "singing the praises of its chief executive Bob Iger in a bid to convince stockholders to side with him in a battle with activist investors," as Forbes' Caroline Reid put it. I included the link because Reid did in her write-up, but the PDF file is no longer there, perhaps flushed down the memory hole.
Reid's article is a bit technical but the upshot is that when calculating the studio's return on investment for franchises like The Avengers and Star Wars, Disney didn't factor in the acquisition costs of buying Marvel and Lucasfilm.
"Calculating ROI on revenue rather than profit ignores the costs so artificially inflates the result," Reid explained. Well, yes. It's really easy to show a profit when you include revenues but conveniently leave out major expenses.
Reid concluded that "Disney hasn't misled investors as the methodology is in the fine print." But the methodology itself is a scam, a way to calculate returns on investment that no reputable firm would ever use. The Avengers movies made boatloads of money (at least until recent years) but Star Wars is probably still in the red — despite what Disney told investors.
This all goes back to a column I wrote right after the new year — Advantage: VodkaPundit™ — arguing, "If Disney has realized an actual profit on its $4.05 billion Lucasfilm investment, I'd be shocked."
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
"My back-of-the-envelope math, in which I gave the benefit of every doubt to Disney's Star Wars revenues, indicated that the company had spent $7.35 billion acquiring and producing Star Wars entertainment but generated just $6.41 billion in revenues."
"They're losing money on Star Wars. That, to borrow Bill Clinton's inelegant-but-ever-so-apt description of his wife's presidential campaign, is like failing to sell p**** on a troop train."
The last great “Star Wars” movie was “Revenge Of The Sith”. Everything made after that was just crummy.
Sounds like a class action lawsuit is necessary to strip Disney’s board away in favor of people who want to make money not rape kids...............
I would have said The Empire Strikes Back.
SW franchise goes on a fire sale.
Elon buys and sets up his own production studio. Jedi Productions or something...
Reboots franchise.
First trilogy to come out based on the Timothy Zahn Thrawn books.
Opening credits come up with familiar sound track and yellow letters...
“The horrors of the last few years are over.
Luke’s nightmares of what could have been have stopped.
Here is what really happened...
... a long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away...”
“Moichandising! Moichandising! Where the real money from the movie is made!”
The last great “Star Wars” movie was “Star Wars”.
Well not really. I mean the buyout was $4 billion, so right off the bat they’re big in the hole (though nearly half of that was stock). Plus of course making more product costs money. So if they’ve made $6.4 billion with only $3.3 billion more invested they’re well on their way to profitable on that acquisition. You throw 4 bills down and you make it all back plus 60% in 10 years, that’s not a bad investment.
You mean Spaceballs.
Disney doesn’t make movies they make “The Message” and it doesn’t sell ,LOL
They did not include the costs of the acquisitions that made Disney a conglomerate company that just gobbles up its indepenedent competitors and does so in ways that make the whole Disney enterprise no longer “Disney”. To be real honest “Disney” should have been removed from the name long ago.
No, I mean “Star Wars”.
I watched Spaceballs in the theatre. I found it to be far too strained, far too self-conscious, and far too late.
George Lucas supported Disney management over the other guys
Ok, then I say this!
Hardware Wars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccfbw2RJ3ow
You’ll laugh, You’ll cry, You’ll kiss three bucks goodbye!
“Episode IV: A New Hope” is still my favorite.
LOL!!!
Haven’t seen that for eons. Used to have a VHS tape of it I picked up at a ‘con.
What is it, Augie Ben Doggie? Did you feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced?
No, just a little headache.
What would happen if Trump lied to Stockholders.....
Yes, this article is silly. Movies for Disney have always been loss leaders to sell toys and park passes.
Robot Chicken Star Wars.
Best thing that ever happened to the franchise.
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