迪士尼掌门人：我们不会动《星球大战》

    10月30日，沃尔特·迪士尼公司（Walt Dsiney Co.）以40.5亿美元收购卢卡斯影业（Lucasfilm）。如今，关于这笔交易的流言漫天飞舞。比如轻博客Tumblr网站上的“身穿黑武士服装的米老鼠”就说：“绝地武士的控心术真的有用吗”？在康纳·奥布莱恩的节目中，会看到彼得潘和叮当小仙女掠过塔图因星球的剪影吗？巴斯光年会成为《星球大战7》（Star Wars 7）的主角吗？

    然而那些对这笔交易夸夸其谈的人并不知道，只有迪士尼才明白，如何不让“千年隼号”撞上“太空山”，真是讽刺。迪士尼收购ESPN、皮克斯（Pixar）和漫威（Marvel）的成功秘诀，同时也是迪士尼CEO兼董事长鲍勃·艾格恪守的头号法则就是：让每家公司保留原有的独特文化，上层不会强求过多的协同效应。【请阅读《财富》杂志（Fortune）之前对迪士尼的报道。】他在接受《财富》杂志采访时称：“这一次，我同样会这么做。既然文化对于创意环境如此重要，它就值得我们去保护。”

    当然，收购公司的CEO们经常会这么说。但艾格的话以前就有过很好的证明。今年早些时候的一次采访中，ESPN董事长兼前任总裁乔治·博登海默重点强调了迪士尼小心翼翼，避免破坏ESPN之前的模式。“迪士尼承认，ESPN的文化是它重要的优势，这一点值得赞扬。一家收购公司完全可以不这么做。”在皮克斯，同样如此。皮克斯在被出售给史蒂夫·乔布斯、约翰·拉萨特和艾迪·卡特莫尔之前，实际所有人是乔治·卢卡斯。亲自到皮克斯看看，就会发现，这家公司的文化完全独立，没有任何证据显示它已经成为迪士尼的一部分。今年早些时候，卡特莫尔称：“似乎我们与迪士尼完全不沾边。”

    不过这一次与迪士尼之前的交易有一个很大的区别。之前的交易中，公司领导人都继续留任，比如皮克斯的卡特莫尔和拉萨特，漫威娱乐的帕穆特等。然而这一次，虽然乔治·卢卡斯未来将继续担任“创意顾问”，但对于卢卡斯影业的特许经营权，卢卡斯将不再拥有任何发言权。艾格说：“（对于星球大战和卢卡斯影业的其他资产）我们拥有不受约束的权利。我们拥有彻底的创意控制权，包括电影名称、制作方式、内容等等。”要实现这一点，必须得有信任。

    早在1990年，为美国广播公司（ABC）拍摄《少年印第安纳·琼斯》（Young Indiana Jones）系列片时，艾格与卢卡斯首次结识。2011年，艾格首次提出收购卢卡斯影业，但他说卢卡斯还没准备好。他说：“我当时决定不强人所难”，之后我跟他说：‘等你准备谈一谈的时候，给我打电话。’”2012年，他终于等来了卢卡斯的电话。经过尽职调查，真正的谈判开始。但卢卡斯从没有正式向其他任何公司兜售他的公司。艾格在价格谈判过程中曾一度建议卢卡斯向别的买家询价，以此来确定艾格是出价比较高的一个买家。

    You've probably seen at least one of the memes related to the October 30th,$4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilm by the Walt Disney Co. by now. Was it Mickey in Darth Vader's suit, saying "That Jedi Mind Trick Sh*T Really Does Work" on Tumblr? Peter Pan and Tink floating in silhouette in front of the planet Tatooine on Conan O'Brien?Buzz Lightyear as the hero of Star Wars 7?

    But what all those who have chimed in on the deal don't get is that -- ironically -- Disney (DIS) is the only company out there that understands how to keep the Millennium Falcon from crashing into Space Mountain. The secret of Disney's success with acquisitions ESPN, Pixar and Marvel -- and the number one rule of its CEO and Chariman, Bob Iger -- has been to let each company's unique culture stay that way, without too much forced synergy coming from the top. (Read Fortune's earlier Disney story.) "I'm going to do this one the same way," he told Fortune in a lengthy interview. "If the culture is important in terms of the creative environment, then that will be protected."

    Aquiring CEOs always say that, of course. But in Iger's case there is precedent. In an interview earlier this year, George Bodenheimer, Chairman and former President of ESPN, emphasized how careful Disney has been not to trample on the ESPN way. "I credit Disney with recognizing that the culture of ESPN is a major part of its strength. You could see an acquiring company going a different way." At Pixar, part which was actually owned by George Lucas before it was sold to Steve Jobs, John Lasseter and Ed Catmull, the same is true; a visit to the campus reveals a culture completely independent, with no evidence at all that Disney owns it. "It's like we're off the grid," said Catmull earlier this year.

    There is, however, one big difference from Disney's other deals, in which the company leaders --Catmull and Lasseter at Pixar and Ike Perlmutter at Marvel -- stayed on. Although George Lucas is going to remain a "creative consultant" going forward and his handpicked successor, Kathleen Kennedy, will be the executive producer of the next Star Wars film, he no longer has any say so over the franchise itself. Says Iger: "We have unfettered rights to [Star Wars and Lucasfilm's other properties] going forward. We have complete creative control -- over the name of the movie, how it's made, what's in it. " That requires trust.

    Iger, who first got to know Lucas when they worked on the Young Indiana Jones series on ABC in 1990, first broached the subject of buying Lucasfilm in mid 2011, but says Lucas wasn't ready. "I decided not to sell hard at all," he says, "and said 'well, call me when you're ready to talk.'" That call came in June 2012. After due diligence, the real negotiations began, but Lucas never formally shopped the company elsewhere -- though Iger, at one point in the price negotiations, says he suggested that Lucas do so to confirm that his offer was a good one.