The Walt Disney Company is all about mergers and acquisitions. While their core business is strong with Disney World, Disneyland, and Disney movies, it’s the acquisitions that bring the most growth. This includes Star Wars, Marvel, ABC, and more. However, the Walt Disney Company made the largest purchase ever, buying the city of Chicago for $100 Billion.
We have seen Disney get ambitions with acquisitions before. Buying Shrek for $10 billion is one example. Also, Disney acquired the rights to Friends and The Purge to continue both of those well-known and well-loved franchises. These are all ambitions, but not nearly as ambitious as buying the entire city of Chicago.
Walt Disney Company Buys Chicago
The Walt Disney Company is the first company ever to acquire an entire city. In this case, they bought the third largest city in America, Chicago. It cost Disney $100 billion to acquire the city, which is the most expensive Disney acquisition to date. In fact, it almost doubles the value of all of Disney’s acquisitions together. This is truly a risky business move by Disney and many people wonder if it will pay off.
Why did Disney buy Chicago? They hope to turn the city that is currently on a decline into a beautiful, Disney-run city. Storyliving by Disney are communities built and developed by Disney. They started building Cotino, the first one, in Rancho Mirage. According to Disney, “Disney Imagineers will be the visionaries behind the magic of Storyliving by Disney™ communities—and will help make each one the kind of beautiful haven where people dream of living, with delightful architecture, amenities and activities.”
Disney has just announced two more locations for their communities. One in North Carolina and another in Chicago. Disney is essentially acquiring the city of Chicago to rebuild it as a Disney community. They will follow the original idea of EPCOT as they rebuild the city. They plan to use a lot of existing roads, buildings, trains, and more, but will clean it up and give it a Disney feel.
Why and How Did Disney Buy Chicago?
In 2021, the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area had a GDP of $630 billion. However, Disney sees so much more potential with the city. They know how rundown it is and that crime is driving people away from the city. Disney is putting their foot in the ground with drastic plans to fix the city that once used to thrive. They will give it an EPCOT/Progress City makeover and make it livable again.
Disney plans to dump billions of dollars into the city to clean up the city, reduce crime, and return it to its glory days. Since Disney has acquired the city, they will act as the government. Many city taxes and fees will be paid to Disney. This allows them to fund their projects to improve and fix the city. They have aspirational goals to increase the GDP to $1 Trillion by the end of 2029, in just 5 years. If they can achieve this, it will certainly justify the $100 billion to acquire Chicago.
Many people are wondering how Disney can buy Chicago. According to the government, all cities are for sale, if the price is right. The state of Illinois sees Chicago as a wasteland that needs to be fixed. By selling it off to Disney, they don’t need to worry about it. Disney can fix it and the state will still generate tax revenue from Chicago and far more if Disney successfully fixes it. It’s a bet the state is willing to take. Only time will tell if this acquisition will pay off.
What do you think of Disney buying Chicago? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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