Yahoo Movies Disney Fox merger will cost thousands of jobs, say analysts
While the merger of Disney and Fox might bring the X-Men and the Avengers together, it could also costs thousands of people their jobs, according to business analysts.
Even Donald Trump said that the historic deal, which saw Fox’s entertainment assets bought up for $52.4 billion by Disney, could be ‘great for jobs’.
On the announcement of the deal yesterday by Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch and Disney’s Bob Iger, Disney said that it expects ‘$2 billion in cost savings’ from ‘efficiencies realized through the combination of businesses’.
Experts believe such savings will likely come at the cost of jobs.
“There will be thousands of jobs lost,” BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield told CNN.
“It is hard to see how any meaningful job creation will come out of this.”
Professor Gene Del Vecchio, from USC’s Marshall School of Business, added to the Los Angeles Times: “Layoffs will happen, in all likelihood. They’re apt to be large. When you combine Disney with Fox, you get tremendous synergy.”
“There are a lot of people who don’t know anything, and that is creating great anxiety,” said one Fox employee to the newspaper.
Laura Martin, analyst at Needham & Co, added to CNN that Disney ‘will not need a lot of the corporate overhead, or two distribution arms in Italy’.
Bob Iger said on announcing the deal: “The acquisition of this stellar collection of businesses from 21st Century Fox reflects the increasing consumer demand for a rich diversity of entertainment experiences that are more compelling, accessible and convenient than ever before.
“We’re honoured and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we’re excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings.”
It’s thought that the merger will mean that Disney will control almost 40% of the $11 billion US annual box office takings.
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