Steve Jobs’ Billionaire Journey Began with Pixar, Not Apple
- In February 1986, Steve Jobs purchased Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division for $10 million and renamed it Pixar.
- Pixar’s IPO on November 29, 1995, a week after the release of Toy Story, made Jobs a billionaire.
- Disney acquired Pixar in an all-stock deal worth $7.4 billion in January 2006, making Jobs Disney’s largest individual shareholder with a roughly 7% stake.
Steve Jobs’ initial investment in Pixar was pivotal to his financial success before his return to Apple in the late ’90s. The acquisition of Pixar by Disney not only solidified his wealth but also established him as a major stakeholder in the entertainment industry.
