Steven Jobs's Stake in Pixar

The New York Times

San Francisco -- February 7, 1986 -- Lucasfilm Ltd., based in San Rafael, Calif., said today that Pixar, formerly its computer graphics division, had been acquired by Steven P. Jobs and the division's employees. The new company will produce high-powered computers and software for computer graphics and image-processing applications.

Mr. Jobs, former chairman and co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. and current chairman of Next, paid an undisclosed sum ''in the millions'' for a majority interest in the company.

The balance will be owned by Pixar's 43 employees.

Lucasfilm is owned by George Lucas, who produced ''Star Wars'' and other space films noted for their sophisticated special effects.

While Mr. Jobs will be chairman of Pixar, daily operations of the company will be handled by its president, Edwin Catmull, 40 years old, who has been in charge of the division at Lucasfilm. Pixar will operate separately from Next, which is developing a high-powered computer for educational use.

''Image computing will explode during the next few years just as super-computing has become a commercial reality during the last several years,'' Mr. Jobs said.