A Modern Dynasty
- CG Facer
- Jan 9
- 5 min read
A couple years back there was a trend on TikTok where women asked their husbands and boyfriends how often they thought about the Roman Empire.
I am grateful my wife did not participate in that trend.
The reason being: Most guys responded with something along the lines of “I think about the Roman Empire every day.”
I don’t know if those guys were telling the truth. But if they were, I was completely unaware that a daily mental review of one of the most influential dynasties of all time was a fundamental aspect of modern masculinity.
Had my wife asked me that question, I would have foolishly admitted that I don’t think about the Roman Empire at all.
And before you shame me, it gets worse:
An empire I do think about on a near daily basis?
The Walt Disney Company.
Before you click away- hear me out.
I’m not thinking about a trip to one of their theme parks. Nor am I concerned with any upcoming releases on Disney Plus or how Zootopia 2 is doing in theaters (although I’ve heard it’s quite good).
Rather, I’m thinking about this-
Shown here is a small section of the latest Forbes 2000, a list of the world’s largest publicly traded companies.
The Walt Disney Company sits at 71st.
Here is where some of their competition falls on the same list-
Netflix: 197th
Warner Brothers Discovery: 671st
Paramount: 1,103rd
Six Flags: Doesn’t make the list
If you’re wondering about Universal Studios; they’re housed under the mega-conglomerate Comcast (which makes it difficult to determine the exact size of Universal Studios itself).
However, if you insist on a comparison, consider this:
Disney isn’t just doubling up Universal. They’re nearly quadrupling them.
But it’s not the fact that Disney outperforms its competition by multitudes that is astounding to me; it’s that they outperform entities from the upper echelons of commerce too.
For example: Disney is bigger than Pfizer.
Why is that remarkable?
It’s remarkable because Pfizer manufactured the first FDA approved COVID-19 vaccine, the jab that 36% of Americans were required to get to keep their jobs.
Conversely, the government can’t require you to inject yourself with a Disney product.
The banks don’t require you to get “Disney insurance” if you want a loan.
You don’t stop at the 7’Eleven on the way to work to fill your car up with “Disney magic”.
Nobody is required to purchase what Disney is selling.
And yet they make money like they’ve cured a disease.
In the most recently completed financial year, Disney brought in nearly $92 Billion in revenue and netted over $5 Billion in profits.
I understand there are people who see these figures and squirm at the idea of a company accruing such riches. After all, regardless of your opinions of the free market, nobody should be in favor of consumers being taken advantage of. But Disney isn’t taking advantage of anybody: Everyone is free to not give them money.
As such, I view the Walt Disney Company as an entrepreneurial marvel. From the complexities of their daily operations to the ingenuity of their entertainment innovations, I think it’s all worthy of praise.
Without all of it, Disney would not be able to earn your business.
It’s easy to forget, but merely a century ago Walt Disney was no more than a hopeful entrepreneur starting his own film studio. What Walt lacked in resources he more than made up for in an undying belief in the value of his work. On numerous occasions, he effectively “risked it all” in an effort to take the next step for his business.
In 1934, Walt Disney embarked on the daring animated project that we all know today as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. At that time in his life, Disney had finally found some professional stability in the form of his cartoon shorts. Even so, he made the executive decision to pivot towards feature length films.
The decision was a giant leap forward on uncharted ground. No one had ever seen a feature-length animated film before, much less one in full color and sound. It came at quite a cost; production’s final bill came in at three times its original budget, totaling to about $1.5 Million. The critics were calling it “Disney’s Folly".
Undeterred, Walt Disney mortgaged his own home to finance the film. When that wasn’t enough, he ran a “rough cut” of the unfinished movie for Bank of America’s Joseph Rosenberg. This was Disney’s final hope for additional investment.
Legend has it that Mr. Rosenberg sat impassively throughout the duration of the showing. At the finish, he turned to Disney and said:
“Walt, that thing is going to make a hatful of money”.
And with that, Bank of America gave Walt Disney the final $250k he needed to finish.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would go on to earn nearly $8,000,000 in its original box office run. Walt Disney was on the cover of Time magazine no more than a week after it premiered.
You can’t help but wonder what might have happened if Joseph Rosenberg had thought the movie would be a bust.
Today, Disney has grown to a size and stature that makes their existence feel nearly inevitable. It seems impossible to envision a world where the Walt Disney Company has ceased to exist.
People probably felt that way about the Romans at one point too.
But that empire began to falter when its expansion had outraced its means of effective control. The pursuit of size over strength left the central powers incapable of dispelling invasions, internal conflicts, and the spread of disease. So much of what had made the Roman Empire the juggernaut that it was had been lost as it tried to integrate newly conquered societies into its pre-existing mold.
Sometimes I wonder if that will be Disney’s fate someday too.
In 2026, Disney plans to release-
Toy Story 5: Another installment in a franchise that has seemingly already had two finales.
A live-action Moana: This will be the fastest that Disney has ever made a live-action remake of a previously released animated film.
Avengers Doomsday: Disney is bringing back Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans to portray characters following lackluster box office performance for Marvel movies since their departure from the series
I’m in no position to predict the downfall (or even down-turn) of the Walt Disney Company. But I will say this-
Disney didn’t go from a small short-film studio to the world’s 71st largest company in 100 years because they played it safe, recycling through the things they knew worked.
Rather, they got there by doing just the opposite.
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