Roy Edward Disney was born on 10 January 1930, in Los Angeles, California, USA, and was best known for working in The Walt Disney Company, especially as a former senior executive. His father Roy Oliver Disney and his uncle Walt Disney founded the company. All of his efforts helped put his net worth to where it was prior to his passing.
How rich was Roy Disney? As of late-2016, sources inform us of a net worth that was at least $1.2 billion, mostly earned through the success of The Walt Disney Company, of which he was a shareholder plus serving as a consultant. He was also the Director Emeritus of the Board of Directors, and all of these achievements ensured the position of his wealth.
Roy Disney Net Worth $1.2 billion
After graduating from Pomona College in 1951, Roy went to Walt Disney Productions to work as a producer and assistant director. He would hold on to this position until 1967, when he was elected to become part of the Board of Directors.
He would be part of the company until 1977, when he decided to resign from his position as executive due to disagreements. He mentioned that he didn’t like the company’s creative direction yet still retained a seat in the board. Later in 1984, when a corporate battle was taking place, he then resigned from the board of directors. The battle also resulted in numerous changes in various positions. A lot of investors were hoping to dismantle the company and sell its assets, but Roy soon led another group of investors to thwart the attempts. After his successful campaign, he would return as the vice chairman of the board and the chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation.
During this time, Roy became responsible for producing a number of critically and commercially successful films. He helped create “The Lion King” which would gross nearly $1 billion, and significantly increased his net worth, and, he was given the prestigious Disney Legends Award in 1998. He would then go on and create “Fantasia 2000” – which was a sequel to “Fantasia” – however, the film did not achieve any financial success.
He eventually resigned as board member in 2003 due to conflicts with management. Afterwards, he established SaveDisney.com which hoped to oust CEO Michael Eisner along with other supporters. This campaign proved successful as well, and led to position changes. Roy would then re-join the company in 2005 as a Director Emeritus and consultant, continuing to solidify his net worth. The following year, Roy would be responsible in helping acquire Pixar in a $7.4 billion deal, which led to Steve Jobs gaining a seat on Disney’s board of directors.
Aside from this work, Roy also appeared in the documentary film “The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal”, and was also part of the documentary entitled “The Sweatbox”.
For his personal life, it is known that Roy held numerous sailing speed records. He married Patricia Dailey in 1955 and had four children, but they divorced in 2007 when Roy started a relationship with Leslie DeMeuse who he married in 2008. Roy passed away due to pancreatic cancer in 2009.
