The lines at Disney World may be long, but the Mouse House isn’t standing around to let Ron DeSantis savor his win yesterday in the company’s First Amendment lawsuit against the failed presidential candidate. Less than 24 hours after a federal judge agreed with the Florida Governor and deep-sixed Disney’s nearly year long legal action, the Bob Iger-run entertainment giant and Sunshine State mega-employer gave official notice they plan to challenge Wednesday’s dismissal. “Notice is given that Plaintiff Wa ...

Nelson Peltz wants Disney shareholders to elect him and former Disney executive Jay Rasulo to the company’s board, and today he unveiled the two current directors he’d like unseated to make room. Trian, Peltz’s investment firm, asked shareholds to withhold votes for Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman and vote for himself and Rasulo instead as he ramps up his campaign against Disney for what he calls poor management that’s resulted in a lagging stock price. The board showdown will come at Disney’s an ...

Google parent Alphabet reported decent numbers for the fourth quarter of 2023, including a 15.5% hike in YouTube  advertising to $9.2 billion (from $7.8 billion), solid but disappointing the market a bit with shares down 4%. Most numbers met but didn’t exceed forecasts at a time of very high expectations for tech stocks. Google Search & other advertising was $48 billion from $42.6 billion. Google Network saw ad revenue of $8.3 billion vs $8.5 billion. So total Google advertising including YouTube of $65.5 ...

Netflix founder and executive chair Reed Hastings has gifted 2 million shares, worth over $1.1 billion at the stock’s current price, to the Mountain View, California-based Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Deadline has confirmed. The move was noted in a recent SEC filing without the beneficiary named. The donation was a big chunk of Hastings’ Netflix stock — about 40%. He still owns 2,991,541 shares, the filing said. The stock has been having a great run and closed today at $575.08.   Hastings had a ne ...

Disney has proposed investing at least $1.9 billion into the Disneyland Resort over the next few decades, and will provide Anaheim millions more for housing and parks in a development agreement presented to the City Council. The proposal is called DisneylandForward and still needs to go through several more meetings with Anaheim officials before its conclusion. No details on what Disney will do have been revealed as of yet. But the broad strokes mean the company would have flexibility to choose where it b ...

Microsoft is laying off about 1,900 people in its gaming division following the closing of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In a memo sent to employees today, the company said the move was to address “areas of overlap.” Blizzard President Mike Ybarra is also leaving. In a post on X, Ybarra called it “an incredibly hard day.” His post said: “I want to thank everyone who is impacted today for their meaningful contributions to their teams, to Blizzard, and to players’ lives. It’s an incredibly hard day ...

Netflix added a far-better-than-expected 13 million subscribers to reach 260.3 million globally as of the end of 2023. The company missed earnings per share forecasts and barely edged Wall Street expectations for total revenue as it faced tricky comparisons with the year-ago quarter and continued impact from a recent price increase. Wall Street analysts had predicted the company would add between 8 million and 9 million subscribers in the period. Their consensus called for revenue of $8.71 billion and EPS ...

Sheryl Sandberg, Mark Zuckerberg’s longtime number two who stepped down as COO in 2022, said today she’s also leaving the board of . Sandberg was one of the highest-ranking women in the business and tech world as chief operating officer of , then Meta, which she joined in 2008. While there, she authored the 2013 bestselling Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.  “With a heart filled with gratitude and a mind filled with memories, I let the Met board know that I will not stand for reelection this May, ...

Amazon MGM Studios is to open a production hub at Pinewood Toronto Studios in Canada. The streaming production giant unveiled an agreement with the studio for exclusive use of production facilities in downtown Toronto at a ribbon-cutting event today. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow attended the ceremony. The multi-year agreement includes use of five new state-of-the-art sound stages, accompanying workshops and office accommodation, totalling approximately 160,000 square feet. Financ ...

More than 2,600 flights were canceled nationwide Friday and more are expected today because of Midwest storms and inspections that have taken many Boeing 737 planes offline The Midwest is being hard hit by snow, with blizzard warnings issued on Friday for the Midwest and Great Lakes. Days ahead of Monday’s Iowa caucuses, the National Weather Service in Des Moines is urging drivers to stay off the roads. Chicago was the biggest pain point for travelers, with hubs Dallas and Denver close behind. A Chicago g ...