Rumor: Is Apple buying Disney?

Is Apple going to buy Disney?

There's no doubt these companies complement each other greatly. I mean, the two are already partnering together on Apple's new Apple Vision Pro Augmented Reality headset, which debuts in early 2024.

By acquiring Disney, Apple would gain all of the value that comes with the Disney, Marvel and Star Wars brands, from movies to television to games to merchandise. All of Apple's already existing platforms, like Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple News+, would get an influx of valuable content.

But it's not so simple. For starters, even after the beating Disney's stock has taken over the past couple of months, the company still has a market cap of around $160 billion. Although that may seem small for a company like Apple — with a valuation of $2.8 trillion and about $165 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities — Apple would still need to take on debt and pause its share buybacks to make the acquisition, according to Motley Fool.

Then there's the prospect of facing resistance from antitrust regulators who have started to crack down on these proposed media mega deals. Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, although approved now, drew harsh regular attention.

But even with how much of a perfect fit Apple and Disney seem to be for each other, there's no indication that Apple will buy Disney now or in the near future. For as much as the two companies' visions align, there are still great differences between them. Disney is primarily a media and theme parks company while Apple is primarily a hardware and software company. I suspect the two companies will continue to work together and mutually benefit from each other's strengths, but there's no reason for Apple to purchase Disney entirely right now.