Marvel Entertainment is an American entertainment company founded in June 1998, merging Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and ToyBiz. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, and is mainly known for its Marvel Comics, Marvel Animation, and Marvel Television units. In Dec. 2009, Disney finalized the purchase of Marvel Entertainment for $4.3 billion. Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc., incorporated on December 1986 as the parent company of Marvel Comics and Marvel Productions, was put up for sale as part of the liquidation of its then parent corporation, Cadence Industries, and sold in 1986 to New World Pictures. In January 1989, Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings group of companies bought Marvel Entertainment Group from New World for $82.5 million, not including Marvel Productions, which was folded into New World's TV and movie business. While licensing revenue reached $50 million in 1995, MEG laid off 275 …show more content…
The company grew through questionable acquisition like Heroes World, Fleer (trading cards), and at least one other trading card company. Marvel also couldn't get any additional revenue from licensing out additional toys due to the dubious purchase of ToyBiz. Add all of that to the collapse of the newsstand market, the exodus of speculators from the comics industry, and the poor quality of product being churned out, and it's a miracle Marvel lasted as long as they did. Peter Cuneo became chief executive officer of Marvel in July 1999, brought in by Isaac Perlmutter, a power player in the toy industry whose company had just taken Marvel out of bankruptcy. At one point in 2000 the company had only $3 million in the bank, barely enough to cover its cash needs. There were only 250 employees and no facilities that could be closed to cut costs. The company’s stock fell as low as a dismal 96 cents per