Disney IPO

About Disney IPO

The Walt Disney Company went public on November 12, 1957 at 13.88 per share. The IPO was motivated by the need to finance Disneyland, which had opened in 1955. Disney had previously been a private company, nearly bankrupted by the ambitious Snow White production. The stock split 8 times since the IPO. Disney expanded from animation into theme parks, television, film distribution, and streaming. Major acquisitions included Capital Cities/ABC in 1995 for 19 billion, Pixar in 2006 for 7.4 billion, Marvel in 2009 for 4 billion, Lucasfilm in 2012 for 4 billion, and 21st Century Fox in 2019 for 71 billion.