Steve Jobs bought Pixar from George Lucas for $5 million in 1986, ultimately pumped in $54 million over 9 years, and on IPO day in 1995 his 78% stake was worth approximately $1.2 billion — making the Pixar IPO the moment Jobs became a billionaire.
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At 2:07:21 · chapter starts 2:03:11
The Toy Story story reels famously crashed at a December 1993 Disney screening — Katzenberg hated it, the characters were too mean — and Pixar had two to three weeks to rebuild from scratch or lose the production funding entirely. The rebuilt version was good enough. Over 1994, the film took shape. By 1995, Steve Jobs had concluded that if Toy Story succeeded, Eisner would understand that Pixar had just become Disney's greatest nightmare — a genuine animation competitor — and would move to lock them up. The solution: go public the week after Toy Story opens. It worked. Toy Story grossed nearly $400 million — the highest-grossing film of 1995, period [1] — David Rosenthal "Steve Jobs knew if Toy Story succeeded, Disney would try to renegotiate the Pixar deal from a position of power. The only way Pixar could n…" 2:06:00 — and on November 29th, one week after opening, Pixar closed its IPO day at a $1.5 billion market cap. Jobs' 78% stake was worth approximately $1.2 billion. [2] — Ben Gilbert "Steve Jobs bought Pixar for $5M, sold for $1.2B stake: Steve Jobs bought Pixar from George Lucas for $5 million in 1986, ultimately pumped …" 2:07:21 The Toy Story IPO, not Apple, made Steve Jobs a billionaire. The subsequent five-picture renegotiation worked briefly — Disney went 50/50 on production budgets — but began to fracture over sequels (Toy Story 2 grossed $500 million), Eisner's congressional testimony attacking Apple's 'Rip. Mix. Burn.' campaign, and a leaked Eisner board memo calling the Finding Nemo reel 'a bad movie' that would give Disney negotiating leverage. In January 2004, Pixar pulled the plug on negotiations and issued a Steve-written press release: 'It's a shame that Disney won't be participating in Pixar's future successes.'
Steve Jobs knew if Toy Story succeeded, Disney would try to renegotiate the Pixar deal from a position of power. The only way Pixar could negotiate as an equal was to have capital. So he timed the IPO for one week after Toy Story's opening. It was the largest IPO of 1995, bigger than Netscape. Jobs' 78% stake was worth $1.2 billion on day one. The Toy Story IPO — not Apple — is how Steve Jobs became a billionaire.
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Matt continues working 80+ hours a week after becoming debt-free in order to pay off his house by age 40, against his fiancée's wishes.
Elizabeth and her husband in Nashville carry $180,000 in combined debt — $115K in student loans plus medical bills and a car — and just discovered she is 5 weeks pregnant with their second child while also having a 4-month-old.
Despite $180K in debt and a surprise pregnancy, Elizabeth's EveryDollar budget shows a $747.39 monthly surplus on top of minimum payments and living expenses.
Elizabeth and her husband earn $1,900 per month from side hustles — she does Lyft and house cleaning while he does additional gig work — on top of their regular income.
Gold has averaged approximately 7.8% annual return since 1971 when the U.S. dollar was untied from it, which George Kamel notes is lower than historical stock market returns.
George Kamel shared that he and his wife paid off their own home mortgage in 26 months — far ahead of their original 4-year goal.
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