Actually, this isn't true.
These are fund managers. They created and manage the mutual funds and ETFs that own these shares. The shares in question are actually owned by the investors who own those funds...not the fund managers.
Further, 1.9 billion shares would mean nothing if the total outstanding float of shares was 200 billion.
It’s so disappointing when “conservative” new media reveals how stoopid they can be.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/102715/top-5-disney-shareholders.asp
Top 3 Institutional Shareholders
Institutional investors hold the majority of Disney’s shares at about 67.49% of total shares outstanding as of March 2024.
Vanguard Group
Vanguard Group owns 146.3 million shares of Disney, representing 8% of total shares outstanding, according to the company’s preliminary proxy filing for 2024.
The company is primarily a mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) management company with about $7.6 trillion in global assets under management (AUM).
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) is one of the company’s largest exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with about $1.1 trillion as of February 2024.
BlackRock
BlackRock owns 120.9 million shares of Disney, representing 6.6% of total shares outstanding, according to the company’s preliminary proxy filing for 2024.
The company is primarily a mutual fund and ETF management company with approximately $9.09 trillion in AUM.
11
The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is among one of BlackRock’s largest ETFs with approximately $404.4 billion in AUM as of March 2024.
State Street
State Street owns 75.67 million shares of Disney, representing 4.13% of total shares outstanding.
The company is primarily a manager of mutual funds, ETFs, and other assets with approximately $4.13 trillion in AUM.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is among one of State Street’s largest ETFs with approximately $479.2 billion in AUM.
This is really a distinction without a difference. The asset managers are the ones making these moves to buy up the shares on behalf of the investors whose assets they manage, but it’s those asset managers that own the controlling stakes by definition.