Rich Greenfield Breaks Down Why He's Bearish on Disney Buying Fox
Disney struck a deal on Thursday to help build up its arsenal of content as it prepares to launch its own video streaming service.
The media giant agreed to pay more than $52 billion for most of 21st Century Fox, adding the company's film and TV studios, international properties and channels such as FX.
But BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield says doesn't understand why the company wants to increase its exposure to the "troubled legacy media business."
"This feels like Disney is cementing itself in the past, rather than aggressively moving into the future," he told Cheddar in an interview shortly after the deal was announced. "There were a lot of transactions they could've done that would've been a lot more exciting than this."
The alternatives? Greenfield says Snap, Twitter, Activision-Blizzard, or Spotify would all have been better options.
But the deal does give Disney ownership of high-profile franchises such as "X-Men" and "The Simpsons," titles that could make the library for its own planned streaming service more attractive.
The company said in August that it will pull content off Netflix in 2019. Instead, films from "Iron Man" to "Star Wars" to "Toy Story" will only be available on its own platform.
To watch the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/btig-analyst-rich-greenfield-on-disney-fox-deal).
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Black entrepreneurs lead the way in the creation of new businesses, but they often cannot get the necessary funding to get their business off the ground. The Fearless Fund is on a mission to change that, and help Black business owners get venture capital. The fund also offers a unique grant program meant to help entrepreneurs with growth, peer coaching, and more, including grants between $10,000 and $20,000. Arian Simone, Co-Founder and General Partner of Fearless Fund, joins Closing Bell to discuss the Fund's mission, how it helps Black entrepreneurs, and more.
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Sting has sold his catalog of more than 600 songs for $300 million to Universal Music. The deal gives the label the rights to all of his work, including “Every Breath You Take," as well as all future royalties.
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Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
Jason Moser, Senior Analyst at The Motley Fool, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to talk about the big takeaways from Disney's Q1 report, which showed the company nearing 130 million Disney+ subscribers as parks revenue ticks up.
The airline industry is seeing a major consolidation as Frontier and Spirit Airlines have agreed to merge in a deal valued at $6.6 billion dollars. Frontier will control just over 51% of the company, and Spirit will control the other 48%, creating what would become the fifth-largest airline in the U.S. The deal was approved over the weekend, with Spirit CEO Ted Christie saying that the merger aims to create an aggressive, low-fare competitor focused on consumer-friendly pricing. John Grant, Senior Analyst at OAG explains the gravity of the merger, and the wider impact it could have on competition and the airline industry as a whole.
