Bob Iger, the outgoing chairman of Disney, continues to double down on his belief that Apple and Disney would have eventually merged under Steve Jobs. In a new interview with CNBC, Iger said that he believes Apple and Disney would have completed a merger if Steve Jobs had lived.
As noted by Seeking Alpha, Iger made the comments in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. He explained that he’s “pretty convinced” Apple and Disney would have eventually had the merger discussion if Jobs had lived. That being said, the two never broached the topic while Jobs was alive:
Speaking to CNBC in an interview that aired on Tuesday, the former CEO of Disney reported that he never talked about a potential combination with Jobs, who died in 2011, but that the Apple founder appreciated the benefits of combining “great technology” with “great creativity.”
“I’m pretty convinced we would have had that discussion. … I think we would have gotten there,” Iger said of a potential merger, noting that Jobs became a major DIS shareholder after the Mouse House bought his Pixar animation studio in 2006.
This of course isn’t the first time Iger has mentioned his belief that Disney and Apple would have eventually merged; in his memoir released a few years ago, Apple also floated the idea of a Disney and Apple merger. The idea of Apple buying Disney has surfaced numerous other times over the years as well but never with any real evidence. At least in today’s interview, Iger did acknowledge that he never actually discussed this idea with Jobs.
Following the launch of Disney+ and Apple TV+, Iger departed Apple’s board of directors in 2019. The Disney CEO is said to have a friendly relationship with Apple CEO Tim Cook, but the competitive aspect of the two streaming services likely forced Iger to take a step back.
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