Apple co-founder and former Pixar Animation Studios chief executive Steve Jobs passed away yesterday after losing a long battle with pancreatic cancer, aged 56. Born in San Francisco, California in 1955, Jobs went on to become one of the most successful entreprenuers of the digital age after forming Apple, Inc. in the mid-1970s, and was responsible for technological innovations such as the Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad.
In 1986, Jobs purchased The Graphics Group from LucasFilm, which was later renamed Pixar; with Jobs serving as chief executive of the animation studio, Pixar went on to reach near-unprecedented heights of creativity, releasing the first CGI feature film, Toy Story, in 1995, along with box office hits such as A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, before the company’s acquisition by Disney in 2006. Tributes to Jobs were led by Pixar’s chief creative office John Lasseter and president Ed Catmull, who released a statement that read: “Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family.”
Originally published October 6, 2011. Updated April 10, 2018.
