Who owns Studio Ghibli?
Studio Ghibli is not wholly owned by any single company recorded here: Nippon TV Holdings (Japan, TSE: 9404) has held a 42.3% stake since 2023.[1][2][3] Nippon TV's voting rights in Studio Ghibli are 50% or less, but its shareholder report for the year to March 2026 records Studio Ghibli as a consolidated subsidiary under the substantial control criteria.
Evidence: Nippon Television Holdings, Inc. — Notice of the 93rd Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (year ended 31 March 2026), including the business report and the list of subsidiaries with voting-rights percentages. Last checked .
Key facts
- Largest stakeholder
- Nippon Television Holdings, Inc. (42.3% stake) reported
- Since
- Headquarters
- 🇯🇵 Japan, Tokyo
- Origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- Founded
- 1985
- Category
- Media & entertainment › Film & television › Animation studios
- Parent ticker
- TSE: 9404
- Last verified
- · 3 sources
About Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli was set up in 1985, while Castle in the Sky was in production, by the publisher Tokuma Shoten, which had produced Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind; the studio's own history explains that Ghibli is the name of a hot Saharan wind. It became a Nippon TV subsidiary in October 2023, and the group's 2026 shareholder report records 42.3% of the voting rights held indirectly, consolidated under the substantial control criteria rather than by majority.
Ownership timeline of Studio Ghibli
Where Studio Ghibli sits in Nippon TV Holdings
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Nippon TV Holdings ownership tree →
See the full Nippon TV Holdings brand portfolio (5) →
Other brands owned by Nippon TV Holdings
Nippon TV Holdings controls 6 brands on Brandtree, 6 of them in media & entertainment.
Also in media & entertainment
- BS Nippon (1998)
- CS Nippon (2001)
- Nippon TV (1952)
- Tatsunoko Production (1962)
- VAP (1981)
Other brands in animation studios, and who owns them
The 13 brands in animation studios on Brandtree belong to 9 owners. The largest is TOHO, with 3.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Science SARU | TOHO | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Doga Kobo | Kadokawa | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| House of Cool | WildBrain | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| Studio Bazooka | CJ ENM | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
| DreamWorks Animation | Comcast | 🇺🇸 United States |
| NITRO PLUS | CyberAgent | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Pixar | Disney | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Toei Animation | Toei | 🇯🇵 Japan |
About the owner: Nippon TV Holdings
Nippon TV Holdings is a publicly listed company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1952.
Nippon Television Holdings is the Tokyo broadcasting group built around Nippon Television Network Corporation, which was established in October 1952 and made Japan's first commercial broadcast in August 1953. The company listed in Tokyo in 1959 and moved to a certified broadcasting holding company structure in October 2012. Its subsidiary list for the year to 31 March 2026 runs from broadcasting and programme production through real estate and fitness clubs to Studio Ghibli, Tatsunoko Production and the online video operator HJ Holdings.
Nippon TV Holdings: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇯🇵 Studio Ghibli and other Japanese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 437 brands that began in Japan. 21 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Studio Ghibli is not one of them.
- Aggretsuko — Sanrio 🇯🇵
- Doga Kobo — Kadokawa 🇯🇵
- Godzilla — TOHO 🇯🇵
- Gundam — Bandai Namco 🇯🇵
- NITRO PLUS — CyberAgent 🇯🇵
- T-Joy — Toei 🇯🇵
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Studio Ghibli?
No single company recorded here owns Studio Ghibli outright. Nippon TV Holdings has held a 42.3% stake since 2023.
Does Nippon TV Holdings control Studio Ghibli?
Not on the shareholding alone: a 42.3% holding is not a majority. Nippon TV's voting rights in Studio Ghibli are 50% or less, but its shareholder report for the year to March 2026 records Studio Ghibli as a consolidated subsidiary under the substantial control criteria.
Where did Studio Ghibli come from?
Studio Ghibli originated in Japan in 1985.
Sources (3) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Nippon Television Holdings, Inc. — Notice of the 93rd Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (year ended 31 March 2026), including the business report and the list of subsidiaries with voting-rights percentages — Nippon Television Holdings, Inc., Stock exchange filing; retrieved 26 September 2026.
- [2] Nippon Television Holdings — History of Nippon Television Group — Nippon Television Holdings, Inc., Official document; retrieved 26 September 2026.
- [3] スタジオジブリの歴史 (The history of Studio Ghibli) — Studio Ghibli Inc., Official document; retrieved 26 September 2026.
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