Bob Iger explains why Disney didn’t purchase Twitter

Elon Musk needed to purchase Twitter. Then he determined he didn’t.

Bob Iger can relate.

In 2016, Iger, then the CEO of Disney, had satisfied himself that his firm ought to personal Twitter as a result of it could be a superb method to distribute Disney’s content material all over the world. Then, shortly earlier than the 2016 US presidential election, he bailed out.

Iger has advised elements of this story earlier than, however it at all times appeared complicated to me: In his 2019 memoir, he mentioned the boards of each Disney and Twitter had agreed to the deal, however then he had second ideas due to the “nastiness” rampant at Twitter.

Actually? Wasn’t the nastiness readily obvious to anybody who’d ever used the service for a second, not to mention to somebody who was able to spend billions on it?

However at this time we bought an extended model of the story, relayed by Iger on the Code Convention, in response to a query from The Verge’s Alex Heath. On this one, Iger says that Twitter would have been a “phenomenal” distribution platform for Disney however that it could have include too many complications. Amongst them: Bots. (Sound acquainted?)

Right here’s Iger, in his personal phrases:

“We had been intent on going into the streaming enterprise. We would have liked a expertise resolution. We now have all this nice IP. We weren’t a expertise firm. How can we get that IP to customers all over the world? … And we had been kicking tires left and proper. We thought of creating ourselves. 5 years, $500 million. It wasn’t the cash, it was the time, as a result of the world was altering quick. And on the identical time, we heard that Twitter was considering a sale.

“We enter the method instantly, Twitter as the answer: a world distribution platform. It was considered as form of a social community. We had been viewing it as one thing fully totally different. We might put information, sports activities, leisure, [and] attain the world. And admittedly, it could have been an exceptional resolution, distribution-wise.

“Then, after we bought the entire idea to the Disney board and the Twitter board, and we’re actually able to execute — the negotiation was nearly achieved — I went house, contemplated it for a weekend, and thought, ‘I’m not this as fastidiously as I would like to have a look at it.’ Sure, it’s an important resolution from a distribution perspective. However it could include so many different challenges and complexities that as a supervisor of an important world model, I used to be not ready to tackle a significant distraction and having to handle circumstances that weren’t even near something that we had confronted earlier than.

“Apparently sufficient, as a result of I learn the information lately, we did look very fastidiously at the entire Twitter customers — I assume they’re known as customers? — and we at that time estimated with a few of Twitter’s assist {that a} substantial portion — not a majority — weren’t actual.

“I don’t bear in mind the quantity however we discounted the worth closely. However that was constructed into our economics. Truly, the deal that we had was fairly low cost.

“Then you need to look, after all, in any respect the hate speech and potential to do as a lot hurt nearly as good. We’re within the enterprise of producing enjoyable at Disney — of doing nothing however good, despite the fact that there are others at this time that criticize Disney for the alternative, which is mistaken. This was simply one thing that we weren’t able to tackle and I used to be not able to tackle because the CEO of an organization and I assumed it could have been irresponsible.”