Who Is the Fubo TV Owner? Founders, Disney Affiliation, and Ownership Structure Explained

FuboTV is a publicly traded company (NYSE: FUBO) co-founded in 2015 by David Gandler, Alberto Horihuela, and Sung Ho Choi. Since 2025, FuboTV has become an affiliate of The Walt Disney Company — with Disney holding approximately 70% ownership — following a business combination with Hulu + Live TV. David Gandler continues as CEO.

Who Owns FuboTV? The Short Answer

FuboTV isn't owned by a single person or private entity. It's a public company with a mix of institutional investors, insiders, and retail shareholders. Disney holds a 70% majority stake following the 2025 deal, but FuboTV continues to trade publicly and operates under its own management team. David Gandler, the co-founder, remains CEO.

Here's a quick snapshot of the current ownership structure:

Ownership Category	Detail
Co-Founders	David Gandler, Alberto Horihuela, Sung Ho Choi
CEO / Operational Control	David Gandler
Corporate Affiliation (as of 2025)	Affiliate of The Walt Disney Company (~70% stake)
Stock Exchange	NYSE: FUBO
Largest Institutional Holder	Vanguard Group (~8–10%)
Second Largest Institutional Holder	BlackRock (~6.5%)
Total Institutional Ownership	~42% of outstanding shares
Insider Ownership	~5–7%

As of FY2025, FuboTV reports nearly 6 million combined subscribers (post Disney deal) and is ranked the sixth largest pay TV provider in North America. That scale matters when understanding why the fubo tv owner question draws so much attention — this isn't a startup anymore.

What Does FuboTV Inc. Actually Own?

Before getting into who owns FuboTV, it's worth understanding what FuboTV Inc. the corporate entity controls. A lot of people search "who owns FuboTV" thinking they're asking about one streaming app — but the company is now a multi-platform operation.

FuboTV Inc. currently owns:

• Fubo — the live TV streaming platform operating in the U.S. and select international markets

• Hulu + Live TV — integrated into FuboTV following the 2025 Disney business combination

• Molotov — France's leading live TV streaming platform, acquired by Fubo in 2021

• Fubo Studios — the company's original production division, focused on sports and entertainment content

• Owned and operated networks — including Fubo Sports, Fubo Movie Network, and Fubo Latino Network

That's a materially different company than the soccer-streaming niche service it started as in 2015. The ownership structure has evolved to match that growth. 

If you're curious about how other streaming platforms are structured, see who owns Kick for a comparable ownership breakdown.

Who Founded FuboTV?

The Three Co-Founders

FuboTV was founded in January 2015 by three people:

• David Gandler — handled fundraising and investor-facing communications from the start; he's been CEO since founding

• Alberto Horihuela — ran operations and marketing; currently serves as COO

• Sung Ho Choi — focused on product and engineering at launch; Choi is not listed in FuboTV's current executive leadership pages, and his present role or involvement is not publicly detailed

What's often overlooked is how specific the original idea was. This wasn't a general streaming play. Gandler, Horihuela, and Choi saw a gap: soccer fans in the U.S. were underserved by traditional cable, particularly for international matches. They built a cheap, focused product around that niche and used it as a foundation to scale.

The Early Money

Seed funding came to approximately $5.6 million, anchored by DCM Ventures and IBB Ventures. Friends-and-family capital supplemented early rounds. It was a lean start — the team deliberately targeted low-cost niche sports rights rather than competing head-on with established cable bundles.

That restraint — in practice, a trait commonly reported among streaming services that survived early-stage cash pressure — is what kept the company solvent long enough to attract bigger investors. 

Teams building at this stage often find that staying narrowly focused on one content niche buys them the runway to negotiate stronger deals later.

For a look at tools that early-stage companies use during this phase, startup tools covers some of the practical resources relevant to that period.

How FuboTV's Ownership Has Changed Over Time

2015–2019: Strategic Investors Take Minority Stakes

After the seed rounds, FuboTV brought in strategic minority investors: Sky, 21st Century Fox, and AMC Networks all took equity positions during this period. These weren't passive financial bets — each came bundled with commercial carriage or content arrangements. Series B and C rounds added Northzone and Luminari Capital to the cap table.

Founder equity was diluted through each round, as is standard. But Gandler, Horihuela, and Choi retained operational control through board arrangements and vesting structures.

What happened to those early strategic investors — Sky, Fox, AMC — after the IPO is not comprehensively detailed in public disclosures. It's reasonable to assume most reduced or exited their positions as the company transitioned to public markets, but exact exit timelines aren't publicly confirmed.

2020: The Reverse Merger and NYSE Listing

In April 2020, FuboTV completed a reverse merger with FaceBank Group, Inc. This is how the company went public — not through a traditional IPO. 

As reported by TechCrunch, the merger combined FuboTV's live streaming platform with FaceBank's technology IP, creating the vehicle through which FuboTV accessed public markets. The OTCQB listing followed, and in October 2020, FuboTV uplisted to the New York Stock Exchange.

That transaction shifted ownership from a private VC-heavy cap table to a public shareholder base. From that point forward, FuboTV answers to a much broader and more demanding set of stakeholders.

Also Read: Jordan Belfort Net Worth 2025

2021–2023: VC Exits, Institutional Inflow, and the Sportsbook

Decision

After the IPO, early venture investors largely exited as their funds matured. Their place was taken by institutional index funds — pension funds, long-only asset managers — who prioritise cash flow timelines over growth-at-all-costs narratives.

That shift in ownership composition had a direct strategic consequence. In 2022–2023, FuboTV wound down its in-house sportsbook operation. The company had built out a wagering product, but institutional investors pushed back on the cash burn. 

The sportsbook was discontinued, and resources were redirected toward core streaming and ad technology. It's a clean example of how ownership composition shapes operating decisions — not just governance on paper.

2025: The Disney Business Combination

The most significant ownership event in FuboTV's history happened in 2025, when the company completed a business combination with The Walt Disney Company's Hulu + Live TV service. Disney now holds approximately 70% of FuboTV, with existing Fubo shareholders retaining roughly 30%. 

As reported by CNBC, Disney's majority stake gives it the right to appoint a majority of FuboTV's board of directors, while Fubo's management team, led by David Gandler, continues to run day-to-day operations.

FuboTV remained publicly traded throughout the transaction.

Ownership Evolution Timeline:

Year	Ownership Milestone
2015	Founded by Gandler, Horihuela, Choi; ~$5.6M seed from DCM & IBB Ventures
2016–2019	Strategic minority stakes from Sky, 21st Century Fox, AMC Networks
April 2020	Reverse merger with FaceBank Group; public listing on OTCQB
October 2020	NYSE uplisting under ticker FUBO
2021	Acquired Molotov (France); early VC investors begin exiting
2022–2023	In-house sportsbook wound down under institutional investor pressure
2025	Business combination with Disney's Hulu + Live TV closes; Disney holds ~70% stake

What Does "Affiliate of Disney" Actually Mean?

This is the part that genuinely confuses people — and understandably so.

Disney owning approximately 70% of FuboTV means it holds a clear majority stake and controls board appointments. But FuboTV is not a Disney division or wholly owned subsidiary in the traditional sense. The company continues to trade publicly on NYSE under its own ticker (FUBO), and David Gandler remains CEO — not a Disney appointee.

To put it plainly:

• FuboTV still trades on NYSE under FUBO

• Gandler is still CEO, and FuboTV's leadership team — CFO, CLO, CTO and others — is in place

• Disney appoints a majority of board members but does not run the business operationally

• Fubo and Hulu + Live TV continue as separate consumer-facing products

At first glance this seems like a straightforward acquisition — but it's structured more as a controlled public affiliate than a clean buyout. The practical distinction is that FuboTV retains its public listing and external shareholder base, even as Disney holds the majority economic and governance interest.

In practice, companies in this type of arrangement typically find that the majority partner influences strategic direction through board composition and capital access, without dictating day-to-day content or product decisions. How that balance plays out at FuboTV over the next few years remains to be seen.

Who Are FuboTV's Major Shareholders?

Institutional Shareholders

Institutional investors collectively own approximately 42% of FuboTV's outstanding shares. The two largest are:

• Vanguard Group — approximately 8–10%

• BlackRock — approximately 6.5%

• State Street and Geode Capital also hold notable positions

A growing portion of this institutional ownership is passive — meaning it flows through index ETFs that include FUBO based on market cap criteria rather than active investment decisions. Passive holders generally don't intervene in company strategy the way active managers might, but they do carry voting weight on major corporate actions.

Note: Institutional shareholding figures fluctuate with each quarterly 13-F filing. The figures above reflect approximate positions reported in recent filings and should be verified against the latest SEC disclosures for precision.

Insider Ownership

Insiders — including FuboTV CEO David Gandler — collectively hold approximately 5–7% of shares. That's modest by founder-led company standards, but sufficient to keep management incentives broadly aligned with shareholder value.

Retail Shareholders

FuboTV has an active retail investor base. The FUBO stock ticker has seen periods of heightened social sentiment-driven trading, making it a name that shows up regularly in retail investor discussions. 

This adds short-term volatility but also provides liquidity. For context on how public company valuations can shift with ownership, the Fortune 500 companies list offers a broader look at how corporate scale and investor composition interact across major U.S. businesses.

Who Runs and Governs FuboTV?

Executive Leadership

• David Gandler — Co-Founder and CEO

• Alberto Horihuela — Co-Founder and COO

• John Janedis — Chief Financial Officer

• Gina DiGioia — Chief Legal Officer

• Eric Renard — Chief Technology Officer

Board of Directors

The board reflects the post-Disney deal reality directly. Disney holds the right to appoint a majority of board seats, and four of the current nine members are Disney-affiliated executives. The Independent Chairman, Andy Bird CBE, is a former Chairman of Walt Disney International — a choice that signals media industry alignment without being a current Disney employee in this role.

Board Member	Role	Affiliation
Andy Bird CBE	Independent Chairman	Independent
David Gandler	CEO / Director	FuboTV Co-Founder
Daniel Leff	Lead Independent Director	Independent
Cathleen Taff	Director	Disney
Debra OConnell	Director	Disney
Jim Lygopoulos	Director	Disney
Justin Warbrooke	Director	Disney
Jonathan S. Headley	Independent Director	Independent
Ignacio "Nacho" Figueras	Independent Director	Independent

Governance Structure

FuboTV uses a one-share-one-vote common stock structure. There's no dual-class share arrangement that would entrench any single party above others on a per-vote basis. 

In practical terms, Disney's approximately 70% economic stake translates to dominant voting power, but the one-share-one-vote structure means that power is proportional rather than structurally amplified.

Conclusion

FuboTV is a publicly traded company with Disney as its majority owner at approximately 70%, Vanguard and BlackRock as the largest institutional minority holders, and David Gandler — one of the original co-founders — still running operations as CEO. 

It's not purely Disney's company to operate, and it's not an independent company free of outside control. It sits somewhere in between, which is exactly what makes the ownership question worth understanding clearly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is FuboTV owned by Disney? 

Disney owns approximately 70% of FuboTV following the 2025 Hulu + Live TV business combination and appoints a majority of the board. FuboTV remains publicly traded on NYSE under ticker FUBO and is managed by its own leadership team under CEO David Gandler.

Who is the FuboTV CEO? 

David Gandler, one of FuboTV's three co-founders, has served as CEO since the company launched in 2015 and remained in the role after the 2025 Disney transaction closed.

Is FuboTV still publicly traded? 

Yes. FuboTV Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FUBO, and continued to do so after the Disney business combination closed in October 2025.

What happened to FuboTV co-founder Sung Ho Choi? 

Sung Ho Choi co-founded FuboTV in 2015 with a focus on product and engineering. He is not listed among FuboTV's current executive leadership, and his present involvement is not publicly detailed.

Who are FuboTV's biggest shareholders? 

Disney holds approximately 70% following the 2025 deal. Among public institutional holders, Vanguard Group (approximately 8–10%) and BlackRock (approximately 6.5%) are the largest. Insiders collectively hold approximately 5–7%.