Mobilizing the Mouse: Twitter Founder Dorsey Joins Disney Board

Disney is no stranger to technology. The company's strategic acquisition of Pixar brought Steve Jobs into the company and onto the board. The ubiquitous Sheryl Sandberg has been leaning in on board decisions since 2009. And Dorsey replaces Judith Estrin, a former Cisco exec who served on the Disney board for fifteen years.

Disney has long applied innovative technology through its Imagineering efforts and is otherwise considered a tech savvy enterprise, if not a wholly tech business.

But the Dorsey appointment may signal both an acknowledgement that the world continues to change and that Disney intends to stay ahead of that curve. Dorsey's experience with Twitter and Square, the less well-known by highly regarded mobile payments start-up, underscores his insights in areas crucial to Disney's continuing success: communication, convenience and capturing not just the economic reality of mobile activity.

Though Disney's reputation in the tech community is solid, it is too often regarded as somewhat static. With both Sandberg and Dorsey, the company is well-positioned to learn how best to 'mobilize' itself. Sandberg brings a wealth of knowledge from Facebook's strugggle in this regard, while Dorsey both conceptualized and then led that transformation in two separate spheres - social and payments. That he is replacing Cisco's Estrin is also a poignant commentary on the evolution of tech's changing inflection point when it comes to monetizing mobility. JL

JP Mangalindan reports in CNN/Money:

Disney's appointment makes sense given Dorsey's role in two high-profile businesses that are 100-percent digital.
Jack Dorsey's schedule just got even busier. Effective immediately, the Square CEO and Twitter (TWTR) co-founder is joining The Walt Disney Company's (DIS) board of directors.
"Jack Dorsey is a talented entrepreneur who has helped create groundbreaking new businesses in the social media and commerce spaces," said Robert A. Iger, Disney's chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement today. Iger explained that Dorsey's forward-thinking perspective will prove "extremely valuable" given the company's priorities, which include utilizing the latest technologies and platforms to expand the company's reach. Dorsey, for his part, called Disney a "timeless company" he was honored to join.
The addition of Dorsey to Disney's board is an interesting one. His first successful brainchild, Twitter, is trading at nearly $65 a share, up 43% since its successful IPO in November. That company arguably altered the way 230 million-plus active monthly users communicate and consume information via pithy, real-time updates. Meanwhile, Dorsey's other venture, the credit card-processing Square, continues to rapidly grow, with a reported projection of nearly $1 billion in revenues next year. It is reportedly eying an IPO in 2014, as well.
"He certainly has what it takes to innovate," says James MacQuivey, vice president and analyst for Forrester Research.
Which could be exactly what Disney needs. Although the company has long since diversified from its humble origins as a short film production company in 1923 and transformed into a $128 billion media and entertainment company with five segments -- Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products and Interactive -- folks like Iger obviously believe having the inventiveness of tech visionaries like Dorsey should strengthen the company and its bottom line further.
Dorsey is replacing former Cisco (CSCO) exec Judith Estrin, who is leaving because she reached the 15-year term limit for the Disney board. His appointment also aligns Dorsey with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who was named to the Disney board in December, 2009.
Still, MacQuivey understandably remains cautious on whether Dorsey will effect much change. Says MacQuivey: "It all depends on whether Disney will be open their minds up to his influence."
After the announcement came out earlier today, Dorsey tweeted a picture of an early Mickey Mouse sketch and a quote from Walt Disney: "I only hope we don't lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse."