What companies does the Walt Disney Company own? This is a question that more and more people have been asking as Disney has been buying into or buying up various companies and studios. The honest answer is a lot of companies, however it does change often.

Disney will usually go into a large company, like Lucasfilm or Fox and they will keep some of it and sell off other areas they deem “redundancies.”  They also partner up or invest in other companies, usually technology based ones, to gain access to up and coming innovations and developments.

Many people have seen the giant, Mickey ear shaped, infographic that was going around showcasing companies “owned by Disney.”  It probably is no longer completely accurate as it’s a couple of years old.

But the idea behind it still stands. Disney owns a LOT of companies and has their Mickey gloved fingers in a lot of pies.

Even beyond what they own, they do have a lot of high profile, former Disney executives, with decades of connections to the Mouse, working at other companies. Like the Fandango CEO Paul Yanover, who worked at the Walt Disney Company in various capacities for years.

But that isn’t all, Paul Yanover is also in charge of Rotten Tomatoes, as it’s owned by Fandango. Starting to all kind of connect isn’t it?

Let’s go down the rabbit hole.

As of Summer 2021, Disney owns the following companies:

(Keep in mind many of these companies have a bunch of famous divisions they own, which means Disney owns as well.)

• Disney Parks
• Disney Vacation Club
• Disney Cruise Lines
• Adventures By Disney
• National Geographic Expeditions
• ABC (ABC Entertainment Group, ABC Family, ABC News, etc.)
• Hulu (Now Part of Walt Disney Direct to Consumer International -DTCI)
• ESPN (80% stake)
• Freeform (Part of ABC)
• Marvel Studios
• Marvel Entertainment
• Muppets Studio
• Lucasfilm
• A&E (50% equity holding along with the the Hearst Corporation)
• The History Channel (50% equity holding along with the Hearst Corporation)
• Lifetime (50% equity holding along with the Hearst Corporation)
• Pixar
• FX Networks
• X-Games (part of ESPN)
• National Geographic (Nat Geo)
• Hollywood Records
• Walt Disney Records
• Touchstone Pictures
• Vice Media (24% stake BUT A&E has a 20% stake as well)
• Core Publishing
•  El Capitan Entertainment Centre
• Walt Disney Studios Marketing
• 20th Century Studios
• Searchlight Pictures
• Disney Nature
• Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Disney Digital Network (That’s where Maker Studios went)
• Disney Theatrical Group
• Disney on Ice – produced by Feld Entertainment
• Disney Live  – produced by Feld Entertainment
• Disney Character Voices International
• Disney Theatrical Production
• BamTech LLC
• Walt Disney Studios
• Golden Oak Ranch
• Prospect Studios
• D23
• It’s a Laugh Production Company
• Earthstar Inc. (corporate airline)
• Voices of Change
• The Undefeated
• Onyx Collection
• Buena Vista Theaters
• Star TV (Hot Star)
• Baby TV
• Buena Vista Construction Company
• A bunch of Property Holding Companies

• Disney Institute
• Arvida Disney Financial Services Inc
• Seven TV (Russia/ 20% ownership interest)
• Tata Sky (India / 30% effective interest)
• Steamboat Ventures (They have ownership stakes in MANY things including GoPro)

You should see the lists of companies they own or have controlling interest in! Here are some according to Wikipedia.

If you look even further you can see all the ones they have divested over the years. It’s insane!

It’s mind boggling the amount of companies Disney owns or has investments in. It changes all the time! Even if some of these have changed you can bet that Disney has formed alliances or bought in on other companies.

I have to tell you my head hurt just from writing this!

What do you think? Comment and let us know!

Sources: Wikipedia, Disney’s 2020 Investors Report,