Although Disney is today a gigantic company whose ramifications touch all or almost all areas of popular culture, its origins were darker. Both because of its tinyness and because of some of the stories that populate it.
The company was founded by brothers Walt and Roy Disney in 1923 and has since been responsible for some of the most iconic and beloved films of all time. However, the history of his Disney heirs It has little of a fairy tale, and a lot of Tarantino film: drugs, betrayals and trusts.
The Burbank magician died on December 15, 1966, leaving two daughters and ten grandchildren who would share an enormous legacy of one of the most influential people in the entertainment industry. Less known is the figure of his brother Roy Oliver Disney, co-founder of the company, who also left descendants when he died five years later.
Although the descendants were not many, in the history of their legacy one can find touches of Cinderella with her stepsisters, fighting princesses like Pocahontas and some ugly duckling that in the end gave a lot to talk about.
Nowadays it is difficult to know precisely the percentage of the company that each heir owns of the company or How much is the fortune of each family member?. The last estimate was made by one of Walt Disney’s grandsons, who calculated that the heirs barely kept 3% of the company’s shares compared to the 20% that his father controlled. To put it a little in context, Steve Jobs left a legacy when he died of 7.54% of Disney shares to his widow.
However, although it may seem that 3% of the company is not much, given the size that the company has adopted In recent years, that percentage would imply that Disney’s direct heirs would share a pie of 4.65 billion dollars.
Grandpa Walt’s inheritance
Walt Disney’s share passed to his two daughters: Diane Marie Disney and Sharon Mae Disney. The first had no less than seven children and lived a quiet life surrounded by vineyards, writing screenplays and honoring his father’s work with philanthropy under the Disney name.
Sharon was adopted and was not as restrained with her father’s fortune as her sister. He was married twice. In his first marriage he adopted his daughter Victoria Diane Brownand in her second marriage to Bill Lund she had twins: brad and Michelle Lund Disney. Things in life (and business), Bill Lund was the promoter of the land where it currently stands Disney World in Orlando.
Walt Disney’s youngest daughter, Sharon, died in 1993 of breast cancer at the age of 56, leaving her three children a fortune of $400 million as a result of Grandpa Walt’s legacy.
The most conflictive since she was a child was Victoria Diane, with a reputation for being manipulative and destructive who, according to publish Hollywood Reporterwas capable of spending $5,000 on a night of debauchery and heroin in Las Vegas in the 1980s. Victoria died in September 2002 at the age of 36.
The twins brad and Michelle They were born with some learning problems, so their mother arranged for the deposit of their millionaire inheritance under the supervision of three trustees. These three managers would be in charge of giving them 20 million dollars every five years from the age of 35 until the 400 million that corresponded to them as inheritance were exhausted.
If you only knew, Walt. (Commons)
In addition, his mother had established a clause ensuring that her children made reasonable use of the money they received. It specified that they would only receive the money if they demonstrated “maturity and financial ability to manage and use the money in a prudent and responsible manner.”
As if it were the very story of Cinderella, the managers of the fortune convinced Michelle to declared his twin brother incapable of managing his finances before turning 35, claiming that he suffered from Down Syndrome. That way, he would not receive payment from his mother’s trust fund.
Unfortunately for Michelle, luck turned its back on her. She suffered a brain aneurysm and almost died before turning 40. Seriously ill, her father’s second wife offered to take her into her home with the intention of taking control of the succulent inheritance, and they tried to incapacitate her and put Michelle under his guardianship. However, the wealthy heiress recovered from the aneurysm and had to take her stepmother to court to regain control of her finances.
Brad, who remained with his father, He didn’t have it easy at all to maintain Grandpa Walt’s legacy. First he got into fights with his sister Michelle and his aunt, who wanted to get their piece of the pie. Ultimately, Brad lost the legal battle and his percentage of the inheritance.
The lineage of Roy Oliver Disney
The other half of the Disneys are not exempt from controversy either. The line of heirs got off to a good start with the help of his son Roy Edward Disney. The young heir He became involved in the management of Disney until his death in 2009, leaving a legacy of $1.6 billion, approximately 1% of Disney shares. Walt Disney’s nephew left four heirs: Abigail, Tim, Roy Patrick and Susan Disney.
Roy Edward Disney’s respectful and continuous nature with the company that his father and uncle Walt had founded was counteracted by the dissident and activist character of his daughter Abigail Disney.
Roy Oliver Disney’s granddaughter dedicated a good part of her life to attacking the policies of the company founded by his grandfatheraccusing them of being capitalist exploiters. He even produced a documentary called The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales in which he denounces the labor exploitation situation suffered by some company employees.
Abigail Disney was one of the millionaires who signed what was known as manifesto of the Davos millionairesin which a group of 200 millionaires from around the world asked the leaders of the world’s main economies tax large fortunes with higher rates and taxes.
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