Steve Jobs: King of the Castle

The Walt Disney Company announced today it plans to purchase Pixar for $7.4 billion in a sale the two companies hope to complete this summer.

Pixar is the computer animation studio responsible for a string of Disney hits, including "Toy Story," "The Incredibles," "Monsters, Inc." and "Finding Nemo." Pixar's chairman and chief executive officer is Steve Jobs, more widely known as the CEO and co-founder of Apple Computers.

The deal will make Jobs the largest single Disney shareholder and will put him on Disney's board of directors.

Although he won't supplant Robert Iger as Disney president and CEO or George Mitchell as the company's chairman right away, this sale makes Jobs an even more powerful force in Hollywood and effectively hands him the keys to the Magic Kingdom.

Press release

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