What is Abigail Disney's Net Worth?
Abigail Disney is an American film producer and director, philanthropist, and social activist who has a net worth of $110 million. Abigail Disney is the great-niece of Walt Disney. She is the daughter of Roy E. Disney. Roy's father, Roy O. Disney, co-founded of The Walt Disney Company with his brother Walt. When Roy E. Disney died in 2009, he had a net worth of $1.2 billion and was one of the largest individual shareholders in the company. Roy had a total of four children including Abigail and siblings Tim Disney, Roy P. Disney, and Susan Disney.
Abigail Disney turned to the family business of filmmaking after she met Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee in 2006. Her filmmaking career began with a documentary film, "Pray the Devil Back to Hell". The movie, which documented the lives of women in Liberia, was made with Emmy Award-winning director Gini Reticker. In 2008, she launched Peace is Loud, an organization described as "supporting female voices and international peace-building through nonviolent means." In 2009 Peace is Loud organized a Global Peace Tour which showed "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" at community screenings in the U.S. and other countries. It was part of the United Nation's International day of peace. Peace is Loud also funded a 10-day project regarding "female peace-building capacity" three different cities in the US. With partners Pamela Hogan and Gini Reticker, she produced the five part series "Women, War & Peace" which aired in 2011 on PBS. Also in 2011, Disney received an Athena Film Festival Award for her extraordinary use of film for social change. She was a Woman of the Year Honoree at the 2015 Women's Image Network Awards.
Criticism of Wealth
Abigail has been, somewhat ironically, an outspoken critic of of massive wealth. She has gone so far as to say private jets should be banned. Her family actually owns a private jet, a Boeing 737, but she has declined to use it because she feels uncomfortable with the environmental impact. She claims to have given away $70 million of her own personal wealth since turning 21.
In July 2019, after much speculation and estimation, Abigail declared in an interview that her personal net worth was $120 million. She pointed out that she could have been worth as much as $500 million had she not given away so much money and if she was a more aggressive investor.
Philanthropy
Disney has been substantially involved in philanthropic endeavors for many decades. In 1991, she and her husband co-founded the Daphne Foundation to fund programs focused on combating poverty in New York City. Her other organization is Peace is Loud, a nonprofit she launched in 2008 to highlight women leaders through media and live events. Disney is also a member of Patriotic Millionaires, a group of affluent people who support greater taxes on the rich.
Among her other philanthropic activities, Disney traveled to the Congo in 2011 with peace activist Leymah Gbowee to work with other peace activists in the region. The next year, the pair visited Sri Lanka for the launch of the Sri Lankan Women's Agenda on Peace, Security and Development. Later, in 2015, Disney and Gbowee joined 28 other international female peace activists to cross the De-Militarized Zone between South and North Korea demanding an end to the Korean War.
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Early Life and Education
Abigail Disney was born on January 24, 1960 in Los Angeles, California to Roy E. Disney and Patricia Dailey. She is the granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, who co-founded the Walt Disney Company with his brother Walt Disney. Raised in the San Fernando Valley, Abigail Disney went to the Buckley School. For her higher education, she attended Yale University, from which she graduated in 1982 with a BA in English literature. Disney subsequently went to graduate school at Stanford University, earning her MA in English literature. She went on to obtain a PhD in philosophy from Columbia University in 1994. While pursuing her doctorate, Disney taught at Iona College in New Rochelle.
Film Career
In 2007, Disney began her career in the film industry when she co-founded the New York-based production company Fork Films with Gini Reticker. She serves as the CEO and president. Disney subsequently produced her first documentary in 2008: "Pray the Devil Back to Hell." Focused on the work of Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and other women in war-torn Liberia, the film won Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival. Disney went on to serve as an executive producer on a slew of films over the subsequent years, including but not limited to: "Sergio," "Playground," "Sons of Perdition," "Sun Come Up," "The Queen of Versailles," and "Food Chains." In 2015, she made her directorial debut with "The Armor of Light," about the murder of black teenager Jordan Davis and his mother's meeting with attorney John Phillips and evangelical minister Rob Schenck. Disney continued executive producing films after that, with credits including "Cameraperson," "When God Sleeps," "Liyana," and "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché."
In 2018, Disney launched a new production company called Level Forward, focused on projects that expand opportunities for burgeoning voices. The company has co-produced such films as "American Woman," "The Assistant," "On the Record," "Holler," "Rebel Hearts," and "You Resemble Me." In 2022, Disney directed her second feature film, "The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales." The same year, her company Fork Films shut down.
Criticisms of the Disney Corporation
Abigail Disney has been an outspoken critic of the Disney Corporation, particularly in relation to its working conditions and employee wages. In 2019, she criticized the compensation of Disney CEO Bob Iger, claiming that he was paid too much while his workers were receiving inadequate salaries and benefits. The same year, Disney criticized the working conditions at Disneyland. Going on Twitter in 2020, she took the company to task for furloughing hundreds of thousands of low-paid workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney has continued to denounce the pay rates of employees at the company's theme parks. In 2022, she criticized then-CEO Bob Chapek for refusing to make a statement about Florida's homophobic Parental Rights in Education Bill.
Personal Life
In 1988, Disney married Pierre Hauser. They have four children and reside in New York City.
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