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Storming the Magic Kingdom: Wall Street, The Raiders, And The Battle For Disney
This book is about how Wall Street targeted the Walt Disney Company with a hostile corporate takeover. It really happened. , and John Taylor tells how the magic kingdom almost fell to the financial wizards.
262 pages, Paperback
Published March 12, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 7, 2013
A fascinating look inside the world of corporate takeovers, written so that even outsiders like myself could understand what was happening without having a degree in business management. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the strategies Disney's executives employed to ward off the wolves and keep the company intact.
June 17, 2018
As a lover of all things Disney, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I enjoyed it probably more than most would considering the subject matter. A very technical book told through the eyes of Wall street investors and corporate CEOs rather than studio or theme park "Fans", this book may alienate readers with it's corporate and financial industry jargon. But if the passion for Disney History is there, readers should not leave disappointed!
I like to consider this book a spiritual, though unofficial and unintentional, prequel to the James Stewart book "Disney War" which was about the ouster of Michael Eisner from the Disney Company in the 2000s. Stewart does a wonderful job of describing the entirety of the Eisner years from the 80s to 2004, this book really does a good job fitting in the portion of the story just previous to his naming company CEO.
Like I mentioned previously in my review of Richard Foglesong's "Married to the Mouse", this book has sort of an outsiders perspective. Rather than from Foglesong's perspective as a city planner and academic on local city history, John Taylor approaches the "Disney Story" from the perspective of Wall Street writer and expert on Corporate raiders. Because of this the book really has a lot of jargon in it that might leave readers scratching their heads, either bored or disinterested. It took a conserted effort on my part to stay invested during the more financial descriptions on insider trading, proxy fights and buying stocks on margin. However, Taylor delivers on more of the corporate intrigue and political infighting that Stewart's book did so well at telling as well.
I have to admit, my sheer obsession with Disney powered me through this book as quickly as I did. I never knew a lot of the history in this book, and so I absorbed it as fast as I could out of sheet intrigue in a bit of Disney History I was still learning about.
This book does not have a lot of hindsight, it was published 30 years ago. Because of this, a lot of the commentary seems more contemporary than works by Stewart or other historians who have the benefit of distance from their subject to allow them a sense of knowing what will happen next. The book reads more like it was intended for those interested in recent history or current events rather than those looking into researching a part of corporate history. Because of this though, the book does a wonderful job of conveying a sense of the unknown surrounding what may have happened had Saul Steinberg had succeeded in raiding the Disney Vault. There are times where you really do forget that Steinberg loses in the end, and you are left with a sense of suspense, wondering what will happen next.
I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in corporate histories or the history of Wall Street. If you're a Disney fan, give it a chance. I won't guarantee you will like it unless you like the kind of corporate intrigue I mentioned or if you're a fan of James Stewart book. If you're not, in that case I would only recommend it if you think your love of Disney and it's history can power you through the boring jargon filled sections of the book. For what it is, this book is a wonderful addition to my Disney History books. Though again, I think my love for it stems more from my love of the "Disney Story" and not as much from the book itself.
I like to consider this book a spiritual, though unofficial and unintentional, prequel to the James Stewart book "Disney War" which was about the ouster of Michael Eisner from the Disney Company in the 2000s. Stewart does a wonderful job of describing the entirety of the Eisner years from the 80s to 2004, this book really does a good job fitting in the portion of the story just previous to his naming company CEO.
Like I mentioned previously in my review of Richard Foglesong's "Married to the Mouse", this book has sort of an outsiders perspective. Rather than from Foglesong's perspective as a city planner and academic on local city history, John Taylor approaches the "Disney Story" from the perspective of Wall Street writer and expert on Corporate raiders. Because of this the book really has a lot of jargon in it that might leave readers scratching their heads, either bored or disinterested. It took a conserted effort on my part to stay invested during the more financial descriptions on insider trading, proxy fights and buying stocks on margin. However, Taylor delivers on more of the corporate intrigue and political infighting that Stewart's book did so well at telling as well.
I have to admit, my sheer obsession with Disney powered me through this book as quickly as I did. I never knew a lot of the history in this book, and so I absorbed it as fast as I could out of sheet intrigue in a bit of Disney History I was still learning about.
This book does not have a lot of hindsight, it was published 30 years ago. Because of this, a lot of the commentary seems more contemporary than works by Stewart or other historians who have the benefit of distance from their subject to allow them a sense of knowing what will happen next. The book reads more like it was intended for those interested in recent history or current events rather than those looking into researching a part of corporate history. Because of this though, the book does a wonderful job of conveying a sense of the unknown surrounding what may have happened had Saul Steinberg had succeeded in raiding the Disney Vault. There are times where you really do forget that Steinberg loses in the end, and you are left with a sense of suspense, wondering what will happen next.
I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in corporate histories or the history of Wall Street. If you're a Disney fan, give it a chance. I won't guarantee you will like it unless you like the kind of corporate intrigue I mentioned or if you're a fan of James Stewart book. If you're not, in that case I would only recommend it if you think your love of Disney and it's history can power you through the boring jargon filled sections of the book. For what it is, this book is a wonderful addition to my Disney History books. Though again, I think my love for it stems more from my love of the "Disney Story" and not as much from the book itself.
January 3, 2021
Read in 1991. Recounts how a band of corporate raiders and Wall Street mercenaries launched an assault on the American institution Disney.
January 24, 2026
Insight into a financial tragedy.
February 27, 2017
A great account of a year in the life of Walt Disney Productions, as was, and what a year - 1984, when Disney was at its most vulnerable. Occasionally I got a bit lost in the financial/business jargon, but generally this was a clearly told piece for a laymen like me.
August 1, 2014
Today's Disney hearkens back to Michael Eisner and Frank Wells taking control of the company. Taylor tells the story of how that happened, from the point of view of corporate insiders. Though the outlines appear in many books, Taylor traces more precisely than others the interplay between the Wall Street types who can toss hundreds of millions at an opportunity and then control markets - or fail to. Taylor's assumptions about the war between the Walt and Roy factions are more simplistic than those of more recent Disney biographers, but no one I've read goes so deeply into the strategy and tactics of high-level traders as they played with Disney's future. The book provides excellent insight into the way traders think and operate.
February 14, 2014
This book covers the history of Walt Disney Productions relating to and covering the 1984 attempted hostile takeover bid and subsequent ramifications for the company. The book is thorough, if a little too long-winded at times. I enjoyed learning about how hostile takeovers worked and what was going on behind the scenes, although it was so complicated I found it hard to follow at times. Taylor does a great job delineating the different players and their roles in the takeover attempt. Recommended for those interested in Wall Street and Disney.
June 20, 2016
Good and informative but very dry; there isn't a lot of examination as to the whys and in the latter half the sheer volume of names and meetings, followed by another meetings with some of the same names, becomes wearing.
It's an good book to read alongside House of Cards or Liar's Poker, or before reading James B. Stewart's DisneyWar.
It's an good book to read alongside House of Cards or Liar's Poker, or before reading James B. Stewart's DisneyWar.
August 23, 2008
The stockmarket really does undermine the fundamental principles of capitalism. It's not about the customer, but about the stockholders. It's a real problem and this example with Disney only highlights that.
March 11, 2016
This was great! It was an in depth narrative around drama with the board of directors of Disney in the 1980's. Read this if you are interested in activist investors and an entertaining plot line of attorneys and high stakes around "white knights," "poison pills," "greenmail," and more in takeovers.
April 9, 2011
The first stop on learning about the modern history of Disney from the business side. Follow this up with James B. Stewart's "DisneyWar" and you'll have the 1980s through early 2000's covered
October 23, 2014
This is a fascinating read into both the history of the Disney management culture, but how they responded to the ever changing business/investment world that surrounded them.
February 13, 2013
Published 1987.
July 17, 2018
Normally books about big business put me to sleep. That's the main reason I cracked this book open, thinking it would be literary Valium. Not so, Gentle Readers!
No overthrow of a monarchy could have more twists, back-stabbing and downright illogical grudge-matches than the history of The Mouse. This shows how Michael Eisner got the top job but surprisingly Eisner is not the main player. He just sort of got sucked into Disney's massive gravitational field.
Now, the main characters are the lawyers, various board of directors and Disney family members that help create the chaos -- and set the stage for Eisner. Along the way we meet a surprising cast of cameos, including Wall Street insider trading scandal poster-boy Ivan Boesky and a really creepy appearance by future Vice President Dick Cheney.
There is a huge cast of characters to keep track of, which makes things a little hard to follow at times. While I was reading the book, my Mom had to be hospitalized. (The book had nothing to do with Mom going in hospital -- but anyway). During the confusion, I put this book aside for a couple of weeks. Big mistake. If you're going to read this, read a chunk a day just so you remember who is who, who hates who and who owns (or works for) what.
The big unanswered question of the book for me was why some previous owner carefully cut out the author's photo and blurb from the dustjacket. I mean -- REALLY! What was the point of that? What eventually happened to the photo? Was it used for a voodoo spell or put up in some love-struck high school girl's locker or what? Should I warn John Taylor?
No overthrow of a monarchy could have more twists, back-stabbing and downright illogical grudge-matches than the history of The Mouse. This shows how Michael Eisner got the top job but surprisingly Eisner is not the main player. He just sort of got sucked into Disney's massive gravitational field.
Now, the main characters are the lawyers, various board of directors and Disney family members that help create the chaos -- and set the stage for Eisner. Along the way we meet a surprising cast of cameos, including Wall Street insider trading scandal poster-boy Ivan Boesky and a really creepy appearance by future Vice President Dick Cheney.
There is a huge cast of characters to keep track of, which makes things a little hard to follow at times. While I was reading the book, my Mom had to be hospitalized. (The book had nothing to do with Mom going in hospital -- but anyway). During the confusion, I put this book aside for a couple of weeks. Big mistake. If you're going to read this, read a chunk a day just so you remember who is who, who hates who and who owns (or works for) what.
The big unanswered question of the book for me was why some previous owner carefully cut out the author's photo and blurb from the dustjacket. I mean -- REALLY! What was the point of that? What eventually happened to the photo? Was it used for a voodoo spell or put up in some love-struck high school girl's locker or what? Should I warn John Taylor?
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews