Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entertainmentAn entertainment is any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time.Entertainment is typically passive - as in watching opera or a movie. Activities which involve participating in games or sports are more often considered to be recreation...
company formed from the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and Toy Biz, Inc.
A corporate predecessor traces its origins to the May 1933 publication of
Western Supernovel magazine. That magazine was only published for one issue before the title was changed to
Complete Western Book magazine in July 1933. The company's oldest character is
Ka-ZarKa-Zar is the name of two jungle-dwelling comics fictional characters published in the United States. The first appeared in pulp magazines of the 1930s, and was adapted for his second iteration, as a comic book character for Timely Comics, the 1930s and 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics. The third...
, introduced in 1936.
Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entertainmentAn entertainment is any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time.Entertainment is typically passive - as in watching opera or a movie. Activities which involve participating in games or sports are more often considered to be recreation...
company formed from the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and Toy Biz, Inc.
A corporate predecessor traces its origins to the May 1933 publication of
Western Supernovel magazine. That magazine was only published for one issue before the title was changed to
Complete Western Book magazine in July 1933. The company's oldest character is
Ka-ZarKa-Zar is the name of two jungle-dwelling comics fictional characters published in the United States. The first appeared in pulp magazines of the 1930s, and was adapted for his second iteration, as a comic book character for Timely Comics, the 1930s and 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics. The third...
, introduced in 1936. In 1939, the company began publishing comic books as
Timely PublicationsTimely Comics is the 1940s comic book publishing company that would evolve into first Atlas Comics, and then Marvel Comics. During this era, called the Golden Age of comic books, "Timely" was the umbrella name for the comics division of pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman, whose business...
with
Marvel ComicsMarvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
#1.
On August 31, 2009,
The Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company , often simply known as Disney, is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world, known for its family-friendly products...
announced a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, with Marvel shareholders to receive $30 and about 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they own.
History
In 1989
Ronald PerelmanRonald Owen Perelman is an American billionaire investor who made his fortune buying beleaguered corporations and re-selling them later for enormous profits. Once the richest man in America, he is now the 18th richest American, and 35th richest person in the world, with an estimated wealth of...
's
MacAndrews & Forbes HoldingsMacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc. is the principal holding company used by and wholly owned by private equity investor, Ronald Perelman. MacAndrews & Forbes holds interests in a diversified portfolio of public and private companies.-Group:...
group of companies bought the Marvel Entertainment Group, the parent company of
Marvel ComicsMarvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
, from
New World EntertainmentNew World Pictures was an independent motion picture and television production company, and later television station owner in the United States from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. News Corporation became a major investor in 1994 and purchased the company outright in 1997; the alliance with News...
for $82.5 million.
"It is a mini-Disney in terms of intellectual property," said Perelman. "Disney's got much more highly recognized characters and softer characters, whereas our characters are termed action heroes. But at Marvel we are now in the business of the creation and marketing of characters."
Boosted by a massive merchandising effort, an increase in Marvel comic prices, and an overall boom in the comic book industry, Marvel's profits spiked. Perelman later added the
baseball cardA baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
and basketball card companies Fleer Corporation and
SkyBox InternationalSkyBox International Inc. was an American trading card manufacturing company based in Durham, North Carolina. It was a subsidiary of Vector Group, and originally formed as Impel Marketing in 1989. In 1990, the company was renamed SkyBox International. For the next five years, they produced trading...
, Italian sticker manufacturer
Panini Group, and comic book publishers Welsh Publishing and
Malibu ComicsMalibu Comics was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. The company's headquarters was in Calabasas, California...
to Marvel's holdings for a combined total of $700 million. Investors around the world recognized his efforts and generated $80 million for Perelman when he issued Marvel's initial public offering. He later added a significant stake in Toy Biz to Marvel's holdings. His luck was not to last. Marvel's attempt to distribute its products directly led to a decrease in sales and aggravated the losses which Marvel suffered when the comic book bubble popped, the 1994 Major League Baseball strike massacred the profits of the Fleer division, and Panini was hobbled by poor showings at the box office by Disney (Licensing Disney characters provided a major source of revenue for Panini, so when the movies performed poorly Panini performed poorly). A major
bondholderIn finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
,
Carl IcahnCarl Celian Icahn is an American billionaire financier, corporate raider, and private equity investor. In 2008 his net worth was US$14 billion, putting him in an eight way tie for the 46th richest man in the world...
, fought to take control of the company from Perelman. Both men failed as Toy Biz owners Ike Perlmutter and
Avi AradAvi Arad is an Israeli-American businessman. He became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s, and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, a Marvel director, and chairman, CEO and the founder of Marvel Studios....
snatched Marvel from Perelman and Icahn in order to protect their own financial interests. Estimates of his profit on the deal vary widely.
Chuck RozanskiCharles Rozanski is the President and CEO of Mile High Comics Inc. which is based in Denver, Colorado. He was born in Goldbach, Bavaria, Germany and later moved to the United States with his mother and stepfather, an American army officer...
estimates that Perelman made $200–400 million off Marvel;
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, Forbes magazine, is published fortnightly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published fortnightly, and Business Week...
thinks he made nothing; and the judge in the Marvel bankruptcy trial estimated he made $280 million plus various tax advantages.
In December 2003, Marvel Entertainment acquired Cover Concepts from
Hearst Communications, Inc.Hearst Communications, Inc. is a privately-held American-based media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower in New York City, USA. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
On March 15, 2007,
Stan Lee MediaStan Lee Media is an Internet-based creation, production and marketing company founded in 1998, dismissed from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in November, 2006. The company created Stan Lee branded super hero franchises for applications in all media...
filed a lawsuit against Marvel Entertainment for $5 billion, claiming that the company is co-owner of the characters that Lee created for Marvel. Additional, a lawsuit over the Ghost Rider Character ownership was filed On March 30, 2007 by Gary Friedrich and Gary Friedrich Enterprises, Inc.
On August 31, 2009,
The Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company , often simply known as Disney, is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world, known for its family-friendly products...
announced that it had agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock. The deal is contingent upon approvals by Marvel shareholders and U.S. regulators.
Divisions
- Marvel Toys
Marvel Toys is the toy division of Marvel Entertainment. Originally, the company held a license with DC and produced toys based on their characters. Later, they acquired an exclusive contract with Marvel and produced an X-Men specific line as well as a Marvel Superheroes line.Later, the company...
(formerly Toy Biz): a toy company owned by Isaac Perlmutter since the 1990s.
- Spider-Man Merchandising, L.P.: A joint venture of Marvel and Sony Pictures Consumer Products Inc.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony. Its group sales in 2007 has been reported to be of $8.58 billion.-History:...
that owns the rights to Spider-Man movie related licensed products.
- Marvel Characters B.V. (The Netherlands)
- MVL International C.V. (The Netherlands)
- Marvel International Character Holdings LLC (Delaware)
- Marvel Entertainment International Limited (United Kingdom)
- Marvel Property, Inc. (Delaware)
- Marvel Internet Productions LLC (Delaware)
- Marvel Toys Limited (Hong Kong)
- MRV, Inc. (Delaware)
- MVL Development LLC (Delaware)
- Marvel Film Productions LLC (Delaware)
Subsidiaries
- Marvel Characters, Inc.: intellectual property holding company;
- Marvel Publishing, Inc.: publisher of Marvel Comics
Marvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
;
- Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios is an American television and motion picture studio based in Beverly Hills, California.-Background:Marvel Studios was formed in the late 1990s following Revlon CEO Ronald Perelman's acquisition of parent company Marvel Entertainment...
: a film and television production company;
- MVL Film Finance LLC: holder of Marvel's Movie debt and theatrical film rights to the ten characters as collateral.
- Marvel Animation
Marvel Animation, LLC was incorporated in January 2008 to create a better presence in animation and home entertainment markets. Marvel Entertainment has named Eric Rollman as President of its new subsidiary...
: Subsidiary charge with oversight of Marvel's animation productions.
- Film Slate Subsidiaries”
- MVL Rights, LLC: subsidiary holding movie rights of all Marvel Characters with some on contract with MVL Film Finance
- Iron Works Productions LLC: subsidiary holding debt to finance the Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 , and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby.Born Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark, he...
movie.
- MVL Productions LLC: an indirect wholly owned a film development subsidiary
- Incredible Productions LLC (Delaware): subsidiary holding debt to finance the Incredible Hulk film
The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk. It is directed by Louis Leterrier and stars Edward Norton as Dr. Bruce Banner/the Hulk...
- MVL Iron Works Productions Canada, Inc. (Province of Ontario)
- MVL Incredible Productions Canada, Inc. (Province of Ontario)
- Asgard Productions LLC (Delaware)
- Green Guy Toons LLC (Delaware)
- Squad Productions LLC (Delaware)
Former units
- Fleer Corporation
- Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. The company's headquarters was in Calabasas, California...
- Marvel Productions
Marvel Productions Ltd. was a television and motion picture studio division of Marvel Comics, based in Hollywood, California. Originally an animation studio, Marvel produced such notable animated shows and specials such as Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The Pink Panther in: Pink at First...
(1981 to 1997)
- Panini Group: Italian sticker manufacturer
- SkyBox International
SkyBox International Inc. was an American trading card manufacturing company based in Durham, North Carolina. It was a subsidiary of Vector Group, and originally formed as Impel Marketing in 1989. In 1990, the company was renamed SkyBox International. For the next five years, they produced trading...
- Welsh Publishing: comic book publishers