Bob Iger’s Disney wants Apple, Twitter, and 007

Bob Iger’s reign as CEO of Disney ended a few months ago, after two decades of guiding the entertainment giant through its most important changes and acquisitions. Iger, in conversation with The Financial Timeshas now confirmed the great efforts which he didn’t get out, like stop buying Twitter, get disgusted with Apple, and lose the James Bond franchise.

According to Iger, Disney came close to buying Twitter from co-founder Jack Dorsey “at a very attractive price,” sometime before Elon Musk buys the social network in 2022 and change its name to X. Iger had plans to turn Twitter into Disney’s global distribution platform, but he walked away the morning of the deal out of concern that “it would be too disruptive.”

Disney was also once involved in early discussions about a possible merger with Apple, which Iger thinks “really changed”. In the end, Iger says the talks “didn’t go anywhere,” and that “Apple didn’t show that much interest.” The two companies have a mixed history – Iger was Apple board member from 2011 to 2019, and the driving force behind Disney’s acquisition of Pixar in 2006, which was led by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs at the time. According to Iger, his first call with Jobs resulted in an immediate deal to put Disney content on the first video iPod.

“All of a sudden, now I’m someone that Steve likes and respects,” Iger said The Financial Times. “The old Disney who knew he was doing well in the role. And he thought, this is a new day.”

The acquisition of Pixar inspired Iger to find more companies to bring under Disney’s wing, although not every attempt was successful. Iger said: “We felt we couldn’t stop it. “Marvel was one, Star Wars was another, James Bond was one. We had a list and I thought we’d just put them together and buy them all.” Iger doesn’t say much about Disney’s attempt to buy the James Bond franchise, but we know it failed – Amazon bought the rights to distribute 007 when it acquired MGM in 2022, and later paid $1 billion take full control of creation for approval in February 2025.

Iger went down the second time as CEO of Disney on March 18, and former chairman of Disney Experiences Josh D’Amaro he now leads the company. While Iger remains on Disney’s board of directors, he is also expected to step down in December.