In 1984, Disney generated $250 million in profit from parks and consumer products but only $2 million from film and TV — its creative core was essentially broken.
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At 8:13 · chapter starts 5:07
The episode proper begins at ground zero: 1984, a year of compounding crises for the Walt Disney Company. Disney's stock had collapsed from $82 to $52, and by every financial measure the company was worth more dead than alive — corporate raiders held live offers to sell the film library (Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty) to MGM and the parks to hotel operators. [1] — Ben Gilbert "Disney worth more dead than alive: In 1984, Disney's stock dropped from $82 to $52 and the company was worth more if broken up and sold for…" 07:07 Internal family drama was rampant, with Roy E. Disney's son Roy E. having resigned from the board and scheming to oust Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller as CEO. The only defensive move management could execute was a dilutive deal with the Bass family of Fort Worth, Texas — oil and gas money managed by Richard Rainwater — granting them 25% of the company to serve as a pseudo-controlling shareholder bulwark against the raiders. Meanwhile, the creative core was effectively dead: in 1984, Disney generated $250 million in profit from parks and consumer products and a mere $2 million from film and TV. [2] — Ben Gilbert "$2M from film vs $250M from parks (1984): In 1984, Disney generated $250 million in profit from parks and consumer products but only $2 mil…" 08:13 The famous flywheel was completely broken. But in a small basement classroom at CalArts — the school Walt himself had funded in his will — John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Tim Burton, Andrew Stanton, and Pete Docter were being trained in animation, waiting for their moment.
In 1984, Disney's stock had crashed from $82 to $52 and the company was worth more if sold for parts than kept running. Corporate raiders had live offers to sell the film library to MGM and the parks to hotel operators. The only defense was to dilute shareholders by handing 25% of the company to Texas oil money.
In 1984, Disney's stock dropped from $82 to $52 and the company was worth more if broken up and sold for parts than as a going concern.
While Disney was imploding, the entire future of animation was sitting in a basement classroom at CalArts — the school Walt Disney himself funded in his will. John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Tim Burton, and future Pixar leaders were all trained there, hired by Disney, then fired or driven out, only to return and save the company.
In 14 days in September 1984, Disney went from leaderless chaos to hiring arguably the greatest management duo in media history. Frank Wells was available from retirement at Warner Brothers. Michael Eisner had just been passed over at Paramount. Their deal structure — Eisner as chairman, Wells as president, both reporting to the board — would hold the company together for a decade.
An 85-year-old nursing home resident wants to spend $50,000 — a quarter of his entire $200,000 nest egg — flying 10 family members to the Holy Land.
An estimated $31.9 million worth of 401(k) balances have been abandoned by former employees and are sitting unclaimed.
Matt from Chicago paid off $72,000 in debt in 6 months by working 12-hour days, 7 days a week, then funded an emergency fund and pre-paid a Costa Rica vacation.
Matt continues working 80+ hours a week after becoming debt-free in order to pay off his house by age 40, against his fiancée's wishes.
Elizabeth and her husband in Nashville carry $180,000 in combined debt — $115K in student loans plus medical bills and a car — and just discovered she is 5 weeks pregnant with their second child while also having a 4-month-old.
Despite $180K in debt and a surprise pregnancy, Elizabeth's EveryDollar budget shows a $747.39 monthly surplus on top of minimum payments and living expenses.
Elizabeth and her husband earn $1,900 per month from side hustles — she does Lyft and house cleaning while he does additional gig work — on top of their regular income.
Gold has averaged approximately 7.8% annual return since 1971 when the U.S. dollar was untied from it, which George Kamel notes is lower than historical stock market returns.
George Kamel shared that he and his wife paid off their own home mortgage in 26 months — far ahead of their original 4-year goal.
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