The Walt Disney Company Disney Media Networks, and Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A&E Networks, and Freeform; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, a group of 14 theme parks around the world. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 and is the signature mascot and emblem for Disney and one of the world's most recognizable characters. On December 14, 2017, Disney announced an agreement to acquire 21st Century
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Walt Disney or simply Disney (), (common metonym: Mouse, also Mouse House) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It is the world's largest independent media conglomerate in terms of revenue, ahead of NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia which are owned by telecommunications giants Comcast and AT&T respectively. The company was founded on October 16, 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names The Walt Disney Studio