Excerpt from CBS Marketwatch.com Wednesday morning, April 28, 2004:

Comcast withdraws Disney bid
By Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:53 AM ET April 28, 2004

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Comcast, the biggest U.S. cable television company, said Wednesday that it's scrapping its $60 billion bid for Walt Disney.

The Philadelphia-based cable television company said it has become clear that Disney's management and board have "no interest" in putting the companies together. Comcast had launched a $47.9 billion offer on Feb. 11.

Comcast's shares surged in pre-market-trading to $31.55 after closing at $29.97 on Tuesday.

Disney said from the start of the proceedings that it had no interest in being taken over by its rival Comcast. While Comcast's dramatic decision doesn't come as a surprise because there has been ample speculation in recent weeks, few probably expected on day one that Comcast would walk away because it has a reputation for following through on its takeover attempts.

Comcast had initiated the proposal because it wanted to expand its content capabilities as a way of competing more directly against such foes as Time Warner (TWX: news, chart, profile), the world's largest media company.

End of quoted material.

Writer goes on to speculate Comcast might go after Adelphia instead.

So that part of the recent Disney tempest is over....

See how good Michael's leadership is? He successfully fought off a hostile takeover. You people should be more appreciative and respectful!

Comcast was never a threat.

Now, DIS should work on getting ABC/CapCities sold to Warner, and DIS should get back to its core competent businesses: films and vacation destinations. Starting with buying Pixar and putting Lasseter in charge.

I like that plan.

See how good Michael's leadership is? He successfully fought off a hostile takeover. You people should be more appreciative and respectful!

--Smirk!--

Comcast was never a threat.

Now, DIS should work on getting ABC/CapCities sold to Warner, and DIS should get back to its core competent businesses: films and vacation destinations. Starting with buying Pixar and putting Lasseter in charge.
Is Pixar for sale?

John Lasseter would be a terrible choice for running Disney. He'd probably be a terrible choice for running the studio. I'd say he's a fair choice for running Feature Animation.

Pixar is a publicly traded company, so it is just as for sale as Disney except for one thing. As of filing their last 10-K, 56% of Pixar's outstanding shares are owned by Steve Jobs. His is the only vote that matters on any question related to Pixar.

Frankly, unless Jobs is willing to leave Apple or he wants to cash in on Pixar and get out of the business, it isn't something I see happening.

But if he were willing, it would probably cost something in the neighborhood of $4-4.5 billion (current market cap for pixar is $3.8 billion). Less than the Fox Family purchase.

Yes, it would have to be a heck of a profit for Jobs for him to sell it. And it wouldn't happen as long as Eisner was there.

John Lasseter would be a terrible choice for running Disney. He'd probably be a terrible choice for running the studio. I'd say he's a fair choice for running Feature Animation.

Pixar is a publicly traded company, so it is just as for sale as Disney except for one thing. As of filing their last 10-K, 56% of Pixar's outstanding shares are owned by Steve Jobs. His is the only vote that matters on any question related to Pixar.

Frankly, unless Jobs is willing to leave Apple or he wants to cash in on Pixar and get out of the business, it isn't something I see happening.

But if he were willing, it would probably cost something in the neighborhood of $4-4.5 billion (current market cap for pixar is $3.8 billion). Less than the Fox Family purchase.
I like John Lasseter, but I agree. He'd do a great job heading up animation; he's got a great respect for the medium all the way around, both with 2D and CGI. I knew Jobs was the majority shareholder at Pixar, that's why I wondered how Disney could get their hands on the company. I believe it would be a very cold day in you know where before Jobs would sell it, least of all to Eisner, but stranger things have happened...

Why on earth would Jobs sell? More likely scenario would be Disney buying him out for the express purpose of moving him into the CEO job at Disney. That's the only scenario I see which involves Pixar selling itself to the mouse (more of a merger, really) And if they did it, we'd get Lassiter in the deal, which would/could put Lassiter in charge of the studios. And since he's a former Jungle Cruise captain, I'm guessing he'd be quite the advocate for improvement at the parks.