With this in mind I wonder why he chose to sell Pixar. While he made a tremendous amount of money from the sale, I don't think it was really enough to make a tremendous change in his lifestyle.
As a result of the sale, he also became a major shareholder in Disney and joined the board. That might have had a bigger impact for him than just the monetary value from the sale.
Indeed, I think people really underestimate the importance of having the Disney catalog in the iTunes store. And when I say Disney I mean Disney, ABC, Miramax and the other subsidiary studios.
Half true. He bought a division of LucasArts; it wasn't even called Pixar until the sale meant it needed its own name. The idea of Pixar being a feature length animated movie house wasn't even conceivable until Steve Jobs was there to negotiate with Disney for financing and distribution.
He sold Pixar, because it gave Ed Catmull and John Lasseter the opportunity to do what they'd always wanted to do, at Disney.
Pixar was created because Disney was missing he market. When Disney bought them, the Pixar guys started running the show at Disney.
Steve Jobs bought a small division of Lucas Arts that was going to be shut down otherwise, and, along with those guys and others turned it into Pixar for the purpose of realizing this market.
When he sold it, it was a real company, and it enabled the cofounders of Pixar to pursue their dreams. It was a win-win.
