Disney CEO Bob Iger said in his 2019 biography that he might have talked about a merger between Apple and Disney had Steve Jobs not died in 2011.
Iger, who will step down from Disney at the end of December, later discussed the possibility of the merger again in an interview. That is the scenario in his imagination that Apple could just merge with Disney.
Indeed, Iger admits that the topic of a merger between the two companies was never discussed as long as Jobs was alive. But if Jobs was still alive, Iger felt sure they would talk about it.
"I'm pretty sure that we will discuss it. I think we will get there," he said of the potential merger of Apple and Disney.
As is known, Jobs was the founder and boss of Pixar when the animation company was sold to Disney in January 2006 for USD 7.4 billion. The acquisition made Jobs Disney's largest shareholder for several years, and even Jobs landed a position on Disney's board of directors.
So, what made Iger believe that Jobs would be interested in merging Apple and Disney? According to Iger, Jobs is a person who really appreciates the combination of technology and creativity.
Rumors of a merger, or even the acquisition of Disney by Apple, have surfaced several times. However, there has never been any evidence that an acquisition or merger will take place, we quoted from 9to5Mac.
Regarding Iger, apart from being the CEO of Disney, he was actually on Apple's board of directors. Before he died, Jobs asked Iger to join Apple's board of directors.
But after eight years, Iger finally left his position at Apple in 2019. The move was taken because Apple and Disney both launched video on demand services, namely Apple TV+ and Disney+. To avoid a conflict of interest, Iger left his position on Apple's board of directors.