Corporate History and Leadership

A deck by Xian Falk · 9 cards

The foundational history and the key individuals who shaped the company's trajectory.

Card Walker

Esmond Cardon Walker, commonly known as E. Cardon Walker or Card Walker, was an American businessman who served as a top executive at Walt Disney Productions from the 1960s through the 1980s. He was born in Rexburg, Idaho.

Roy O. Disney

Roy Oliver Disney was an American entrepreneur. He co-founded with his younger brother Walt what is now the Walt Disney Company in October 1923. Disney also served as the company's first chief executive officer and was the father of Roy E. Disney.

Donn Tatum

Donn B. Tatum was an American businessman and the first non-Disney family member to be an executive of Walt Disney Productions. Tatum held senior leadership positions with Disney for 25 years, becoming president from 1968 to 1971, when he became CEO from 1971 until 1976. His final position was "Director Emeritus" from 1992 until his death. He played a major role in the creation of the Walt Disney World Resort, EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland.

C. V. Wood

Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood Jr. was an American developer of theme parks and planned communities. He was the chief developer of Disneyland and then, through his own company, Marco Engineering, he developed other parks in several locations across the country. These theme parks included Freedomland U.S.A. in New York City, Pleasure Island in Wakefield, Massachusetts and Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas.

Bob Iger

Robert Alan Iger is an American media executive who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company twice, from 2005 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2026. He previously was the president of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996.

Jeffrey Katzenberg

Jeffrey David Katzenberg is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chair of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and business operations for the company's feature films. Following his departure, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994, where he served as the company's chief executive officer (CEO) and executive producer of its animated franchises—including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon—until stepping down from the title in 2016. He has since founded the venture capital firm WndrCo in the same year, which invests in digital media projects, and launched Quibi in 2020, a defunct short-form mobile video platform that lost US$1.35 billion in seven months.

Michael Eisner

Michael Dammann Eisner is an American businessman and media proprietor who served as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film studio Paramount Pictures from 1976 to 1984, and had brief stints at the major television networks NBC, CBS, and ABC.

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, commonly and globally known as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Founded on October 16, 1923, as an animation studio by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Disney operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

Walt Disney

(1901–1966) Walter Elias Disney was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards won (22) and nominations (59) by an individual. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and have also been named as some of the best by the American Film Institute.