(From I, Cringely -- By Robert X. Cringely)
We'll get back to wiretapping in a moment, but first there's the obvious story this week of DISNEY buying PIXAR, which nobody but me seems to think is about estate planning for STEVE JOBS.
The guy had 80 percent of his wealth tied-up in Pixar.
That kind of holding is very difficult to sell on the open market.
A $4 billion sell order? I don't think so.
Remember this is someone who less than two years ago had a form of pancreatic cancer that has only a 50 percent five-year survival rate. I'm not saying Jobs is going to die, but
I AM saying that he is in a position where he has to think about these things and his financial position at Pixar was untenable for his family, and left him too exposed if CARS turns out to be a lemon.
So the sale to Disney gives Jobs a smaller piece of a bigger pie and therefore much easier liquidity. But it also gives him the chance to nag Disney into the 21st century, as I am sure he will.
Strong minority shareholders tend to clash with management (look at ROSS PEROT with GENERAL MOTORS and TED TURNER with TIME WARNER), and Jobs will do the same with Disney. He'll push to end Disney's partnership with MICROSOFT, to bring Disney into the APPLE/INTEL ALLIANCE, and potentially try for some partnership with SONY, too.
It's the start of a grand amalgamation based around a combination of content, technology, and networking, and
I wouldn't at all be surprised to see it end as a single huge company five years from now with Jobs at the helm.
Just as GIL AMELIO should have at Apple, ROBERT IGER from Disney had better be looking over his shoulder.
To read the entire I, CRINGELY article, click here.
Bill Smallfield, thanks for the post.
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1 comment:
Hey how's it going.. I just came across your blog and started reading. I'm a pretty avid Apple user so any time I see the name Jobs I read.
I definitely understand where you (or whoever wrote that article) is coming from, but I definitely think there are some discrepencies.
You claimed that Jobs is only doing this to increase the liquidity of his assets, because his health may be somewhat of an issue in a few years. 2 paragraphs later you projected that Jobs would own the entrie Disney entity in 5 years.
I dunno... just seems like he can't be anticipating a short life and be planning a major corporate takeover.
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