On the day he received a more than $391 million cash-out package DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg wrote a heartfelt farewell letter of farewell to all the DWA staff.
The co-founder of the company was thanking employees for 22 years of happiness.
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The letter was sent Monday afternoon, as a deal for the company’s $3.8 billion acquisition by Comcast for $41 per share closed, a near 50% premium for the company that created “Kung Fu Panda” and “Shrek”.
DWA will now be part of NBCUniversal’s Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg along with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen founded the one of a kind studio in 1994.
The memo is below:
As I’ve said to many of you over the past week, my work is my happiness. And for 22 years, my happiness has been DreamWorks. But DreamWorks isn’t the beautiful campus, the fountain, the panini maker or even the movies, TV shows and incredible entertainment we’ve created together.
To me, DreamWorks is all of you, the people, who have made it all happen over the years, and who will continue to do so after I drive through those gates for the last time.
But, as Jakob Jensen, a longtime colleague of ours recently reminded me (via Dr Seuss): “don’t cry because it’s over, be happy because it happened.” I couldn’t agree more, and I will happily take with me memories of working with incredibly talented individuals from around the globe, united by an amazing goal: to bring joy, wonder and laughter to the world.
So, thank you for this remarkable place of green ogres, fighting pandas, swashbuckling cats, stranded zoo animals, prehistoric cave people, six-legged aliens, flying dragons, and so much more. I may be heading out the door, but these are the real stars of DreamWorks, and they will remain. And their numbers will continue to grow, soon to be joined by electric-haired trolls and an extremely bossy baby.
Looking down the road, I can’t wait to grab my popcorn and watch DWA keep raising the bar in the years ahead.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so very much for so very much.
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