Ya, the Steve kind...
An article from market watch. A look at the year's winners in the business world
An article from market watch. A look at the year's winners in the business world
Steve Jobs
As the force behind Apple's iPod and Pixar's hit animated movies, the chief executive of the two companies blazes a trail that copycat creators follow.
Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple (AAPL: news, chart, profile) in 1976 and Pixar (PIXR: news, chart, profile) in 1986, is the CEO who knows how to rock. And investors rewarded his efforts on both fronts this year, with Apple stock tripling and Pixar rising 22 percent.
In the quarter ended Sept. 25, Apple sold 2 million iPods, a portable music player that's revolutionized the music business and spawned a mass of imitators since its April 2003 introduction. And as of mid-October, Apple's iTunes music store saw its 150th million song downloaded.
Pixar's latest animation hit, "The Incredibles," has taken in more than $250 million in ticket sales since its Nov. 3 release, giving the company a five-for-five record for producing blockbusters.
While more attention is paid to the iPod and its signature ads of silhouetted, dancing iPod wearers -- including members of rock-icon band U2 -- Pixar quietly has grown into the most successful film studio of all time, earning some $2.5 billion to date.