Abigail Disney, 59, says she wishes she could ban the ultra-rich from owning private jets
An heiress to the Disney family fortune has said that although her parents had a lavish 737 plane at their command, she believes private jets should be banned.
Abigail Disney, 59, spoke out in an interview with The Cut last week, describing how she tries to stay grounded despite her family fortune and the pitfalls of extreme wealth.
Abigail is the daughter of longtime Walt Disney Company executive Roy E. Disney, who died in 2009, and grand niece of co-founder Walt Disney. She inherited millions at age 21, and now has an estimated net worth of $500 million.
'If I’m in a situation where people know my last name, they usually know it,' Abigail said of her wealth. 'But I’m not recognizable, so I can go through the world and restaurants and airports and interact with people like a normal person. That, I love.'
Abigail was grand niece of Walt Disney (above in 1950), the mastermind of Walt Disney World
Abigail described her family as 'comfortable, upper-middle-class' in childhood, before Disney stock began to soar in the 1980s. She is seen above (second from left) along with parents Patricia and Roy, and siblings Susan, Tim and Roy P (right rear) in 1965
The family is seen in 1967 (left to right): Roy P, Patricia, Tim, Abigail, Roy E, and Susan
Photos courtesy of WDWinfo.com
Abigail described how her parent's net-worth swelled from well-off to ultra-wealthy while she was in college, and Disney's stock price began soaring to dozens of times its original value.
'So all of the sudden, we went from being comfortable, upper-middle-class people to suddenly my dad had a private jet. That’s when I feel that my dad really lost his way in life,' she said.
'My dad’s plane was a 737, and it was insane to have a 737 as a private airplane. It had a queen-sized bed with one big long seatbelt across it, and a shower, and it was ridiculous,' Abigail continued.
'They were in their 50s and they liked the shortcuts that wealth gave them,' she said.
'But what ends up happening is you end up being surrounded by people who don’t tell “no,” ever. And as my father’s drinking problem grew, he was surrounded by people who wouldn’t say, “You have a terrible drinking problem. You need to go get
