21st Century Fox in the context of "National Geographic Partners"

The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Founded on October 16, 1923, as an animation studio by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Disney operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

After becoming a success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation from 1989 to 1999. In 2005, under the new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, and 21st Century Fox in 2019. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

National Geographic Global Networks (formerly National Geographic Channels Worldwide and National Geographic Channels International) is a business unit within National Geographic Partners (a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society) and Disney Entertainment (who handles distribution and advertising sales for National Geographic Global Networks) that oversees the National Geographic-branded television channels and National Geographic Studios (formerly known as National Geographic Television).

The unit itself was a joint operation between 21st Century Fox (21CF) and the Society. It was later integrated into National Geographic Partners, which was formed in 2015. On March 20, 2019, 21CF's share in National Geographic Partners was assumed by Disney, following its acquisition of most 21CF businesses.

Fox Corporation (commonly referred to as Fox Corp or simply Fox) is an American multinational mass media company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan and incorporated in Reno, Nevada, with offices also in Burbank, California. Named after William Fox and incorporated in Delaware, it was formed as a spin-off of 21st Century Fox's television broadcasting, news, and sports assets on March 19, 2019. 21CF went defunct the next day. The company is controlled by Lachlan Murdoch through a family trust with 36% voting shares. Rupert Murdoch is chairman emeritus, while his son Lachlan Murdoch is chairman and CEO.

Fox Corp deals primarily in the television broadcast, news, and sports broadcasting industries. Its assets include Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, Tubi, Fox One and others. Murdoch's newspaper interests and other media assets are held by News Corp, which is also under his control and was split from News Corporation in 2013, alongside 21CF. On September 21, 2023, Rupert Murdoch announced that he was retiring as the chairman of Fox Corp, effective November 2023.

The second and current incarnation of News Corporation, doing business as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company was formed on June 28, 2013, as a spin-off of the first News Corporation, whose legal successor was 21st Century Fox, which held its media and entertainment assets. Operating across digital real estate information, news media, book publishing, and cable television, News Corp's notable assets include: Dow Jones & Company, which is the publisher of The Wall Street Journal; News UK, publisher of The Sun and The Times; News Corp Australia; REA Group, operator of realestate.com.au and realtor.com; and book publisher HarperCollins.

News Corp and 21st Century Fox are two companies that succeeded the original News Corp., which included Fox Entertainment Group and other broadcasting and media properties. The spin-out was structured so that 21st Century Fox was the legal continuation of the original News Corporation, with the new News Corp being a new company formed by a stock split. Since March 2019, Fox Corporation, which holds 21st Century Fox's national broadcasting, news and sports assets, is also under the Murdoch family's control. In September 2023, Rupert Murdoch announced he would step down as News Corp's chairman by November.

The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition included the 20th Century Fox film and television studios, U.S. cable channels such as FX, Fox Networks Group, a 73% stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, and a 30% stake in Hulu. Most remaining assets (including the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, Fox Sports 1 and 2, Fox Deportes, and the Big Ten Network), which were excluded from the deal, were spun off into a new company called Fox Corporation on March 19, 2019 (a day before the acquisition was completed). Other 21st Century Fox assets such as the Fox Sports Networks and Sky were divested and sold off to Sinclair and Comcast, respectively.

Robert Alan Iger (/ˈaɪɡər/; born February 10, 1951) is an American media executive who is chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company. He previously was the president of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996. Iger was named president of Disney in 2000 and succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005, until his contract expired in 2020. He then was executive chairman until his formal retirement from the company on December 31, 2021. At the request of Disney's board of directors, Iger returned to Disney as CEO on November 20, 2022, following the dismissal of his appointed successor, Bob Chapek. In July 2023, Disney renewed Iger's contract until 2026.

Considered a highly effective and visionary media executive, Iger was able to broaden Disney's roster of intellectual properties, expanded its presence in international markets, and oversaw an increase of the company's market capitalization from $56 billion to $231 billion during his initial 15-year stewardship of the company. He led the major acquisitions of Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion, Marvel Entertainment in 2009 for $4 billion, Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.06 billion, and the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox in 2019 for $71.3 billion. Iger also expanded the company's theme park resorts presence in East Asia, with the introduction of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Shanghai Disney Resort in 2005 and 2016, respectively. He was a driving force behind the reinvigoration of Walt Disney Animation Studios, the branded-release strategy of its film studio's output, and the company's increased investment in its direct-to-consumer businesses, including Disney+ and Hulu.