What does Steve Jobs want?
With Walt Disney Co.'s board scheduled today to consider whether to buy Pixar Animation Studios, Jobs, the mercurial visionary whose iPod transformed the way Americans consume entertainment, is being compared to Disney's late founder, the mercurial visionary whose theme parks sparked similar change half a century ago.
Like Walt Disney in his day, the 50-year-old Jobs is a perfectionist known to fuss over the number of buttons on a computer mouse. Jobs is a college dropout; Disney never finished high school. And with Pixar's mastery of computer-generated movies such as "The Incredibles," Jobs has taken the animation that Disney first popularized in the 1930s and not just re-energized it but made it box-office gold.
If Disney acquires Pixar, Jobs would join the company's board of directors, own the largest individual stake and become, by far, the most recognizable face on the company's corporate roster -- potentially overshadowing Chief Executive Robert Iger.
At present, "Disney doesn't have a guy who shakes the walls, a larger-than-life character like Walt," said Jeffrey S. Young, co-author of the Jobs biography "iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business."
Jobs, a co-founder of Apple Computer Inc., has the brash confidence to assume that role. But if he does so, the man who once shaved his head and begged for alms in his search for enlightenment stands to inherit more than the mantle of the company's lionized founder.
People who know Jobs and analysts who have tracked his companies for years say the potential deal is notable less for what it would mean for Disney than for how it would expand the cult of Jobs.
"Let's be clear: Steve's not in this for the money," said analyst Tim Bajarin, who watched Jobs unveil the first Macintosh computer in 1984. "It's his original vision of doing something that would change the world that's important. This is another step in seeing him influence that vision and goal."
Jobs declined to be interviewed for this story, as did several of his closest friends.
Venture capitalist Michael Moritz once commented: "Almost everybody has an opinion of Steve Jobs, but very few people know him." That's because Jobs is a master at controlling his own image.
Often featured on magazine covers wearing his trademark black turtlenecks, Jobs has been more famous than his companies' market share would seem to justify. His products are innovative, but they don't always sell.
