World's Most Admired Companies

Top 50 rank: 14
Rank in Entertainment: 1
(Previous rank: 1)
Overall score: 8.07
With hit movies this year like Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland clearing the $1 billion mark at the box office, it's almost easy to forget about the Walt Disney Company's other ventures.

Its theme park division finally saw growth in the last quarter of 2010 -- it built a new cruise ship called the Disney Dream, and -- most profitably -- its cable star ESPN hit an all-time ratings record.

The company is also expanding overseas, pouring millions into its parks in Hong Kong and Paris and planning a new resort in Shanghai.

Despite the struggle in pitching vacations during a bad economy, and the disruption of a movie-studio management shakeup, Disney reaped a 20% profit increase last year, giving investors a taste of that trademark fairy dust. --A.V.