by Lindsay Varien
History/Background
Within about the past one hundred years, the Walt Disney Company has become one of the world’s largest media conglomerates. Founded by Walt and Roy Disney in 1923, Disney has become a media giant in film, animation, television and travel, as well as in many other forms of entertainment and commodities. Best known for its film studio, Walt Disney Studios, Disney now also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network, including television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN and ABC Family.
Board of Directors
There are currently twelve people on the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company, four women and eight men. Until just recently, the board was made up of thirteen members, but with the death of board member Steve Jobs, who was also the co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Apple Inc., the board is now down to twelve.
Within the twelve board members, there are several that have connections to other big and important companies, according to theyrule.net. For example, Disney board member Susan E. Arnold is concurrently on the board of Disney and McDonalds. This connection can be seen in Disneyland Park, where certain McDonalds food items are sold. In addition, there are a couple of connections with banks. Board member Monica Lozano is concurrently on the board of directors at Bank of America, and board member John Chen is on the board of directors with Wells Fargo. Of course, various other Disney board members have some very valuable connections with other companies as well, such as Nike, Starbucks, Visa, Boeing and Clorox.
Financial Information
The Walt Disney Company has been raking in higher revenues year after year. From the year 1991 until the year 2010, the Walt Disney Company saw a rise in revenues of about $32 billion, with an annual revenue of over $38 billion in 2010.
Diversification and Integration
The Walt Disney Company has spent a lot of time on diversification, buying companies outside of its competitive market, so as to make itself a larger and more powerful company, and in doing so, Disney has become not only very diversified, but it has also become a vertically integrated powerhouse. For example, in 1996, Walt Disney purchased ABC television for $19 billion. “Before the merger, Disney was a producer, and ABC was a distributor, of movies and television shows. After the merger, the parent company Disney can do both, with more profit than the combined profits of each,” explained one Newsweek article*. The fact that Disney now controls companies that work on different stages of the production chain means that it is a vertically integrated company.
Disney on a Global Scale
While the roots of the Walt Disney Company are here in the United States, the company has expanded to many other countries all over the world. Disney entertainment is distributed in entertainment markets worldwide. In addition, since the opening of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, several more theme parks have been opened all over the world, such as Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Criticism
The one main criticism of the Walt Disney Company over the years has been the alleged use of hidden sexual references in certain Disney animated films. Such allegations have been made in certain beloved films such as The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), and The Little Mermaid (1989). In addition, the Walt Disney Company has faced accusations of human rights violations over alleged poor working conditions for their factory workers.
ABC Broadcast Television Network
Walt Disney Comany – Board of Directors
Human Rights Violations – article
The Lion King 
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