Corporate history is full of mergers that once sounded impossible: AOL and Time Warner trying to fuse old media with the early internet, or Amazon turning grocery shopping on its head by snapping up Whole Foods. More recently, Elon Musk’s dramatic acquisition of Twitter felt like one of those “did that really just happen?” moments. Yet even that twist has an unexpected rival in the shock factor department.

The revelation that Disney, of all companies, came close to buying Twitter, now X, first.

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that the company once came remarkably close to acquiring Twitter. In a recent interview, he revealed to the Financial Times the deal had reached an advanced stage and was set at what he described as a very attractive price. Talks with co-founder Jack Dorsey had progressed to the point where a final decision was imminent. However, Iger ultimately pulled back at the last moment.

On the morning the deal was expected to close, he reconsidered the long-term implications of owning a volatile social media platform. He explained to the Financial Times that the challenges tied to moderation, user behavior, and platform toxicity made it feel fundamentally misaligned with Disney’s brand identity.

The original vision behind the acquisition was ambitious. Disney saw Twitter as a potential direct-to-consumer distribution engine that could push its content globally in real time. This thinking aligned with the company’s early streaming ambitions, particularly its investment in BAMTech, which would later power Disney+. Owning Twitter could have accelerated that strategy dramatically, but the risks ultimately outweighed the upside.

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Even without those seismic deals, Disney’s real-world performance shows it never needed them to dominate.

Disney’s current box office tells its own story of strength, and Toy Story 5 stands at the center of it. The latest installment in Pixar’s flagship franchise has delivered the biggest domestic opening weekend of 2026 so far. It reinforces the enduring power of Disney’s storytelling and its ability to turn familiar characters into major global events.

The film’s estimated $160 million debut in North America represents a significant leap over Toy Story 4, which opened to around $121 million. That figure places it among the biggest Pixar launches ever, second only to The Incredibles 2. Internationally, the film added roughly $150 million more, pushing its global opening into the low $300 million range and setting a new benchmark for the year.

For Disney, results like these underscore a simple truth. The company’s success is driven more by execution than by hypothetical acquisitions. As long as films like Toy Story 5 deliver at this level, Disney retains its leverage across streaming, theatrical, and global markets without needing to rely on risky corporate expansions.

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What do you think about Disney almost buying Twitter? Would it have changed the media landscape, or was walking away the right move? Let us know in the comments.