Bob Iger Explains Why Disney Walked Away From Twitter Acquisition: "The Nastiness Is Extraordinary"

“The troubles were greater than I wanted to take on, greater than I thought it was responsible for us to take on," the CEO says.

The Walt Disney Co. came close to buying Twitter, yet did not go through with a deal because CEO Bob Iger could not shake his feeling of dread, he revealed in a recent New York Times profile.

The initial idea in 2017 for Disney to acquire the social media platform in order to modernize its distribution was compelling, Iger reportedly says in his new memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, which comes out Monday. But the downside to Twitter, in his opinion, was far worse.

“The troubles were greater than I wanted to take on, greater than I thought it was responsible for us to take on,” he told the Times. “There were Disney brand issues, the whole impact of technology on society. The nastiness is extraordinary.”

Continued Iger, “I like looking at my Twitter newsfeed because I want to follow 15, 20 different subjects. Then you turn and look at your notifications and you’re immediately saying, 'Why am I doing this? Why do I endure this pain?” Iger told the Times.

The exec concluded, “Like a lot of these platforms, they have the ability to do a lot of good in our world. They also have an ability to do a lot of bad. I didn’t want to take that on."