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Disney buys Fox's studios and cable TV channels for $52 billion
After weeks of rumors, the deal is done -- Disney will buy up large chunks of Rupert Murdoch's Fox media empire for $52 billion. The list of what it won't take is shorter: the Fox News cable channel, broadcast networks and Fox Sports, which are expected to spin off as their own business. The Disney conglomerate adds the Fox movie and TV studios (including big-name franchises like X-Men, Avatar, Alien and The Simpsons), majority control of Hulu, FX cable networks and $13.7 billion in debt. On top of that, Fox is attempting to acquire the parts of UK's Sky that it doesn't already own, and if that's successful then Disney will get it too.
Elon Musk leaves Trump’s council after US exits Paris climate pact
Today, president Donald Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the Paris Accord. As promised, Tesla CEO Elon Musk then announced that he would no longer be part of presidential councils based on Trump's decision.
Apple announces changes to its board: Arthur D. Levinson named Chairman, Robert Iger joins
Apple has just announced some changes to its board of directors, including the appointment of a new non-executive chairman: Arthur D. Levinson. Currently Chairman of Genentech Inc., Levinson has been a co-director of Apple's board since 2005, having first joined the board in 2000. He'll be welcoming new board member Robert A. Iger, who you may know as the President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. In a statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Levinson "has made enormous contributions to Apple since he joined the board in 2000," and that his "insight and leadership are incredibly valuable to Apple, our employees and our shareholders." On Iger, Cook said: "Bob and I have gotten to know one another very well over the past few years and on behalf of the entire board, we think he is going to make an extraordinary addition to our already very strong board," further noting that "his strategic vision for Disney is based on three fundamentals: generating the best creative content possible, fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology, and expanding into new markets around the world which makes him a great fit for Apple." The official press release is after the break.
Bill Gates thinks the iPad needs a keyboard, Disney CEO loves it as it is
Here, finally, is one point on which the two giants of computing, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, completely disagree on. Steve says netbooks are better at nothing, whereas Bill's view is the polar opposite: "You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard - in other words a netbook - will be the mainstream on that." Unimpressed by the iPad, Bill goes on to say that he considers it a "nice reader," but not something that made him wish Microsoft had done it first. Don't tell that to Disney CEO Robert Iger though, who brings out the dreaded "game changer" tag when describing the potential he sees in the iPad for the creation of "essentially new forms of content." Lest we forget, Steve Jobs also sits on the Disney board, so this could be just a friendly tip of the hat by Iger. Either way, we're curious to see what new content Disney might scratch up, as well as to find out who's right in this newfound binary question: keyboard-equipped netbooks or longevous, ultrathin tablets -- what say you?
Disney's CEO reaffirms commitment to Blu-ray
While it's not like we really needed another highfalutin executive to takes sides, Disney's CEO is making sure you aren't holding out hope for a Cinderella remake on HD DVD. During a recent analyst call, Robert Iger reportedly responded to an inquiry about his take on HD DVD by stating that Disney has "made its bed with Blu-ray because it believes more in that format for a variety of reasons." Among those reasons were beliefs that Blu-ray boasted a sales record that "outpaced" HD DVD, and even went so far as to suggest that the forthcoming Pirates release would "widen that gap" even further. Interesting, Iger also suggested that once prices on standalone players begin to fall for both camps, retailers will likely choose to stock just the BD players as it attempts to simplify its inventory. Oh, and in case that wasn't bold enough, he even stated that the US is practically the only remaining nation where Blu-ray hasn't quite finished HD DVD off, but that it was only a matter of time before America followed suit.
