enterprises toybiz type subsidiary industry entertainment predecessor marvel entertainment group inc. toybiz founded june 1998 ; 18 years ago june 1998 1 headquarters new york city new york united states area served united states united kingdom key people stan lee chairman emeritus isaac perlmutter ceo alan fine president joe quesada cco products comics animation television film video games services licensing number of employees 255 parent the walt disney company divisions marvel toys marvel television subsidiaries marvel worldwide inc. marvel characters inc. more website marvel.com marvel entertainment llc formerly marvel enterprises and toy biz inc. and marketed and stylized as marvel 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 . marvel studios formerly under the marvel umbrella became a subsidiary of the walt disney studios where it develops and produces its own shared universe . in 2009 the walt disney company acquired marvel entertainment for 4 billion ; 2 it has been a limited liability company llc since then . for financial reporting purposes marvel is reported as primarily a part of disney s consumer products segment . 3 over the years marvel entertainment has entered in several partnerships and negotiations with other companies across a variety of businesses . as of 2016 update marvel has film licensing agreements with 20th century fox and columbia pictures and a theme park licensing agreement with universal parks & resorts extant before disney s acquisition . 4 aside from their contract with universal marvel s characters and properties have also appeared at walt disney parks and resorts . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 marvel entertainment group inc. 1.1.1 going public and acquisition 1.1.2 marvel studios and bankruptcy 1.2 marvel enterprises 1.2.1 marvel entertainment 1.2.2 disney subsidiary 2009 present 2 units 2.1 divisions 2.2 subsidiaries 2.3 former 3 executives 3.1 ceo 3.2 president 3.3 others 4 productions 4.1 television 4.1.1 animated 4.1.2 live action 4.2 film 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit marvel entertainment group inc. edit marvel entertainment group inc. later marvel property inc. 6 7 former type subsidiary then public subsidiary nyse mrv industry entertainment genre superhero fate bankrupt merger predecessor magazine management successor marvel enterprises defunct 000000001998 06 01 0000june 1998 1 products comics services licensing parent cadence industries 1968 1986 new world pictures 1986 1989 andrews group 1989 1993 marvel holdings inc. 1994 1997 icahn enterprises 1997 divisions marvel films 1993 1996 marvel enterprise 1997 1998 subsidiaries marvel productions 1986 1989 fleer 1992 1998 toybiz 1993 1998 heroes world distribution 1994 1996 panini 1994 1998 skybox international 1995 1998 marvel studios 1996 1998 website marvel.com marvel entertainment group inc. marvel or meg incorporated on 000000001986 12 02 0000december 2 1986 6 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 . 8 on january 6 1989 ronald perelman s macandrews & forbes holdings group of companies bought marvel entertainment group from new world for 82.5 million 9 not including marvel productions which was folded into new world s tv and movie business . 8 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 . 1 going public and acquisition edit marvel made an initial public offer of 40 % of the stock ticker symbol nyse mrv on july 15 1991 giving 40 million from the proceeds to andrews group marvel s then direct parent corporation within macandrews & forbes holdings . 9 10 marvel entertainment group then began expanding with acquisitions and forming new divisions . marvel purchased the trading card company fleer on july 24 1992 . 9 on april 30 1993 marvel acquired 46 % of toybiz for the rights to make marvel toys . 9 the andrews group named avi arad of toybiz as the president and ceo of the marvel films division and of new world family filmworks inc. a new world entertainment subsidiary . 11 in 1993 and 1994 marvel s holding companies marvel holdings inc. and marvel parent holdings inc. were formed between andrews group and meg and issued over half a billion dollars in bonds under the direction of perelman secured by marvel s rising stock which was passed up in dividends to perlman s group of companies . 12 marvel continued making acquisitions with panini an italian sticker maker on august 4 1994 for 158.4 million and skybox international on march 8 1995 for 150 million . 9 marvel also purchased heroes world distribution a regional distributor to comic book shops on dec. 28 1994 . 9 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 13 popped the 1994 major league baseball strike massacred the profits of the fleer unit 14 and panini whose revenue depended largely on disney licensing was hobbled by poor disney showings at the box office . 15 marvel studios and bankruptcy edit while licensing revenue reached 50 million in 1995 meg laid off 275 employees on january 4 1996 16 as losses for the 1995 year were 48.4 million . 9 on november 12 1996 perelman offered to have the andrews group purchase additional shares with an issue for 350 million in november 1996 the andrews plan which would have required toybiz to become a wholly owned subsidiary of marvel . meanwhile carl icahn began buying marvel s bonds at 20 % of their value and moved to block perelman s plan . the marvel group of companies filed for bankruptcy on december 27 1996 but the noteholders led by icahn initially blocked this . 1 9 in august 1996 marvel created marvel studios an incorporation of marvel films due to the sale of its film and tv sister company new world communications group to news corporation . filing with the u.s. securities and exchange commission to raise money to finance the new corporation marvel isaac perlmutter s zib inc. and avi arad sold toy biz stocks which marvel had started and took public in february 1995 . 17 18 icahn fought to take control of the company from perelman . 15 the court ruled on february 26 1997 that icahn could foreclose on a controlling interest in marvel shares put up for collateral for the company s bonds . 9 on april 28 1997 toybiz and marvel agreed to a plan supported by chase bank that would merge the two companies grant then lenders a 250 million loan proceeds a 5 year 170 million note 28 % of merged entity s equity and all stock in subsidiaries fleer skybox and panini subsidiaries with marvel shareholders receiving two sets of stock warrants . 19 finally icahn took control of marvel s board and became marvel s chairman on june 20 . 9 bankruptcy proceedings continued with multi way arguments among perelman icahn toy biz and the banks . 1 a plan for reorganization agreed to by icahn and the meg s secured creditors fell apart on october 8 with the introduction of the better toy biz plan . the bankruptcy court on december 24 appointed a trustee to oversee the company . 9 in june 1997 marvel formed its marvel enterprise division headed by president and ceo scott c. marden to manage its trading card and sticker businesses as well as marvel interactive an internet entertainment and software publishing company . 20 a lawsuit by bond holders and marvel s litigation trustees was filed in 1997 accusing perelman and other marvel board directors of diverting 553.5 million in proceeds from 1993 and 1994 notes to other macandrews & forbes holdings companies prior to marvel s 1996 bankruptcy . the lawsuit asked for 470.8 million in damages . the appellate court ruled that none of the proceeds went to marvel or were used for marvel s benefit but instead improperly enriched the directors . while denying any wrongdoing perelman agreed in august 2008 to settle for 80 million which the trustees accepted . the settlement fund after paying off trustees and legal fees administrative expenses and a 2 million loan had 50 million to distribute to some marvel entertainment group shareholders and unsecured creditors . 12 on february 18 1998 marvel and co owner universal studios hollywood opened marvel mania restaurant near universal studios in california 21 as well as planet hollywood . however planet hollywood had financial problems due to expanding too quickly and closed marvel mania . 22 another toy biz reorganization plan supported by the most creditors is submitted to the court on february 13 1998 . new york stock exchange stops trading of marvel stock on april 17 . 9 toy biz owners ike perlmutter and avi arad with the banks on their side snatched marvel from perelman and icahn in order to protect their own financial interests . 15 retailer and columnist chuck rozanski estimated that perelman made 200 to 400 million from marvel 23 while forbes magazine believes he made nothing ; 24 and the judge in the marvel bankruptcy trial estimated that perelman made 280 million plus various tax advantages . 15 the judge ousted icahn as marvel s chairman in december 1997 naming a trustee to run marvel while discussion continued between the various factions . 1 marvel enterprises edit toybiz and marvel entertainment group were merged into marvel enterprises to bring it out of bankruptcy in june 1998 . 1 in february 1999 fleer skybox was sold to a corporation owned by alex and roger grass a father and son for us 30 million . 25 later the rights to names like spider man were being challenged . toy biz hired an attorney to review its license agreement . los angeles patent attorney carole e. handler found a legal loophole in the licensing of the marvel name and was successful in reclaiming marvel enterprises movie rights to its character spider man . 26 27 28 marvel enterprise organized itself into four major units marvel studios toy biz licensing and publishing while in november 1999 adding marvel characters group to manage marvel s ip and oversee marketing . 29 in 2003 bill stine purchased back quest aerospace a 1995 toy biz acquisition from marvel . 30 in summer 2003 marvel places an offer for artisan entertainment . 31 a new unit marvel international was set up in london under a president bruno maglione to extend the company s operation and presence in major overseas markets in november 2003 . 32 in december 2003 marvel entertainment acquired cover concepts from hearst communications inc. 33 in november 2004 marvel consolidated its children s sleepwear apparel licensing business with american marketing enterprises inc. 34 in november 2004 the corporation sued south korea based ncsoft corp. and san jose california based cryptic studios inc. over possible trademark infringement in their city of heroes massive multiplayer online game . 35 marvel settled a film royalties lawsuit in april 2005 with its former editor in chief and publisher stan lee paying him 10 million and negotiating an end to his royalties . 36 marvel entertainment edit in september 2005 marvel enterprises changed its name to marvel entertainment to reflect the corporation s expansion into financing its own movie slate . 37 in 2007 several stan lee media related groups filed lawsuits against marvel entertainment for 1 billion and for lee s marvel creations in multiple states most of which have been dismissed . 38 additionally a lawsuit over ownership of the character ghost rider was