Thousands of Firings Expected After Disney Closes Fox Deal
- Film, TV studio to bolster CEO Bob Iger’s streaming ambitions
- Murdoch family emerges from sale with a smaller Fox empire
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Walt Disney Co. completed its $71 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox Inc.’s entertainments assets, and now must get to the task of squeezing out promised cost savings, an effort that will lead to thousands of firings in the film and TV business.
With the deal, Disney takes over a portfolio that includes the 104-year-old 20th Century Fox studio, the FX and National Geographic cable networks, and an additional 30 percent of Hulu, the online video service. To make the deal work financially and support the company’s costly efforts to compete with Netflix Inc., Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger has promised $2 billion in cost savings, a commitment that all but assures epic job cuts.