During the Q1 Investor Call this morning, Disney CEO Bob Iger emphasized the importance of intellectual property for the company. More specifically, the acquisition and growth of IP has been pivotal, and Disney was ahead of its time in growing IP.

IP Growth

When Bob Iger first became the CEO of Disney in 2005, he said the company started leaning more heavily into the growth of IP. This includes the acquisition of other companies such as Pixar, Marvel, 21st Century Fox, and Lucasfilm. Those types of expansions have been emphasized significantly by the battle for control over Warner Bros. Discovery, he explained.

There is “tremendous value of our assets, particularly our IP…Includes, obviously, all of our brands and our franchises,” Iger said during the meeting. “And also let’s not forget ESPN.” He went on to say that the deal with 21st Century Fox (begun in 2017, completed in 2019) was ahead of its time and well-priced, especially in comparison to the cost of Warner Bros.

For reference, the 21st Century Fox deal cost Disney $71.3 billion ($35.7 billion in cash and $33.8 billion in stock), and the proposed Warner Bros. deal is currently sitting at $82.7 billion all in cash.

In addition to the value of acquiring IP, the value of Disney original IP continues to build as well, Iger explained. “…It illustrates the value of that IP behind beyond the big screen, but you also have to look at what we’ve done on the big screen,” he said. “With $6 billion movies just in the last two years and $37 billion movies over time. Those throw up a tremendous amount of value.” Films such as Avatar and Zootopia have done incredibly well in first stream numbers when added to Disney+, for example, he added.

But above all, he emphasized on the investor call that Disney does not need to buy more IP from elsewhere. Rather, it should continue to create its own. “I don’t really feel that we have a need to buy more IP,” he said. “We’re just going to continue to create our own, and we’ve got an unbelievable bedrock of stories already told to grow from.”

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