I wonder if they could buy a controlling interest without acquiring the company outright? Maybe something like the relationship that Apple has to Disney? Buy up shares to become the largest holder and get a seat on the Board? Before anyone calls me stupid, I'm just asking a rhetorical question to stimulate discussion, okay?
To clarify, I don't believe Apple holds any Disney stock.
Steve Jobs personally received 138 million shares in exchange from Disney's acquisition of Pixar. Jobs joined the Disney board of directors upon completion of the merger. Jobs also helps oversee Disney and Pixar's combined animation businesses with a seat on a special six-man steering committee.
Note that being on the board of any corporation does not normally give you outright powers to direct the companies daily operations in any manner.
For example, in Disney's case:
Quote:
CHARTER OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The responsibilities of the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company include oversight of the Company?s systems of internal control, preparation and presentation of financial reports and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and Company policies. Through this Charter, the Board delegates certain responsibilities to the Audit Committee to assist the Board in the fulfillment of its duties to the Company and its shareholders. As more fully set forth below, the purpose of the Committee is to assist the Board in its oversight of:
? the integrity of the Company?s financial statements;
? the Company?s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;
? the qualifications and independence of the Company?s independent auditors; and
? the performance of the Company?s independent auditors and of the Company?s internal audit function.
Are we sure this story is accurate? All the junk I've read on the web over the decades is that Steve Jobs has been extraordinarily anti-game on the Mac platform.
Back at the time (before MS bought Bungie), Steve had the head of Bungie come on stage at one of his keynote's (back when they used to webcast them live to everyone) and demo Halo for the Mac universe to see and announce it was coming for the Mac - which at the time was very visually impressive.
This was during one of Apple's "we need games" on the Mac periods that don't last too long and seem to come and go every 4 years or so. Gaming on the PC was really big at the time and Apple probably figured they needed to have that as well to bring users on board.
Then Microsoft bought Bungie...
Its amusing to think Ballmer had one of his people try to calm Stevo down...the whole idea even Microsoft had to treat him with such kid gloves back then is amusing...
But it's amusing that anyone is even slightly interested in one phone call Steve made ten years ago. If Steve had failed to turn Apple around and form it into the powerhouse we know today, I doubt very much that anyone would care. Now it's viewed as a rare insight into an otherwise very private character, I suppose.
Are we sure this story is accurate? All the junk I've read on the web over the decades is that Steve Jobs has been extraordinarily anti-game on the Mac platform. He wanted the Mac to be treated as a serious business machine (for the rest of us?). Hard to believe he'd then have a fit when a gaming vendor left the platform. Then again, he's supposedly a fairly mercurial personality.
Steve Jobs may be highly demanding. But to characterize him as mercurial, is totally without foundation.
Apple doesn't buy massively indebted corporations with huge financial obligations to employees.
SONY has nearly a 10:1 debt ratio and > 170,000 employees. Not going to happen.
They do if they think it can be turned around. Contracts get re-negotiated all the time & unfortunately for the employees excessiveness often gets canned during a buy out.
Again, I also said I have doubts, but you oversimplify the situation. It would be far worse for Microsoft to move in & grab them up, that would really put some serious hurt on Apple.
It is amazing that some people take the word of journalists which like lawyer and politicians, are considered survey after survey, the most untrusted of all vocations.
Interesting that the author of your reference, journalist Mark Moritz, has other points of view in Bloomberg's 45 minute TV show, "Bloomberg Game Changers: Steve Jobs," now that he is a venture capitalist.
Are you suggesting in your rebuttal to mdriftmeyer comment,
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer
Apple doesn't buy massively indebted corporations with huge financial obligations to employees.
with
Quote:
Originally Posted by hezetation
They do if they think it can be turned around. Contracts get re-negotiated all the time & unfortunately for the employees excessiveness often gets canned during a buy out.
I call BS on this article. This is being made out to be a Ballmer chair-throwing incident about something that SUPPOSEDLY happened 10 YEARS AGO and people are just falling for it and thinking it is fact.
Job's is a lot of things, but the thought of him just calling up Ballmer and yelling at him over a business deal, honestly does not ring true with me. Hell, if that were the case, Ballmer should have a red-phone on his desk that connects directly to Jobs to yell at him for each time Job's smacks him in the business world.
That is how I feel. It just doesn?t ring true. Jobs may have been annoyed by MS buying Bungie, but that was a strategic, well played business move.
Jobs goes on his rants, but they are usually keen summations regarding what he feels is wrong with other companies? and he?s usually ?dead on balls? accurate. But to complain to Ballmar about a purchase just doesn?t sound like him.
So what if Apple were to purchase a 50% stake in Disney. That and S. Jobs 7% stake. Would that give Apple Control over Disney. Especially the type of control that would not fire Steve Jobs again?
It's most definitely true. It was one of the most egregious examples of poaching in the industry.
The first anyone heard of Halo, was when Steve Jobs introduced it on stage at an Apple event. It stunned the crowd because at the time it was beyond leading edge graphics and so forth. He finished the announcement with a statement that it was coming "exclusively to the mac" in the near future.
You don't get any closer to a "done deal" than that, but then Microsoft bought them out from underneath Apple for the express purpose of shutting Apple out.
With moves like this, it's no wonder Apple is so secretive about everything...
Can't blame Bungie for selling out but if Jobs thought very highly of this company then he should've just bought them.
Sorry, I couldn't agree more. Now the exception would be, if Bungie didn't make Apple aware they were for sale - which seems silly, can you imagine how much more they could have got with Apple and MS bidding on them.
The only person Steve can be mad at, is himself for not buying them first.
This is one of those times (that was one of those times), that Steve needs to be a big boy and say, oh well, you snooze you loose.
Sometimes we forget the history of Apple. In early 200s, Apple was still touch and go, in terms of its finances; in spite of the success of the iPad series.
No, Apple was in good financial shape. Apple was only touch and go with respect to PR in the late '90s. Their finances were never a problem.
If Steve wants the Mac platform to be a premiere gaming platform, then he needs to step up and have the OpenGL drivers updated, fixed, and optimized, and needs to do something tangible to court game developers. The arrival of Steam may signify a positive change, but we'll have to wait and see.
Halo 1 was awesome on the XBox, sorry Jobs. It would've stayed as a niche Mac game if it was released on the Mac. So many great memories playing Halo 1, 2, and 3. I love my Mac but Microsoft buying Bungie was a great move.
It's most definitely true. It was one of the most egregious examples of poaching in the industry.
The first anyone heard of Halo, was when Steve Jobs introduced it on stage at an Apple event. It stunned the crowd because at the time it was beyond leading edge graphics and so forth. He finished the announcement with a statement that it was coming "exclusively to the mac" in the near future.
You don't get any closer to a "done deal" than that, but then Microsoft bought them out from underneath Apple for the express purpose of shutting Apple out.
It was a very dirty deal IMO. I'm not sure who's most at fault, Bungie or Microsoft, but someone (probably lots of someones) seriously compromised their morals with this deal.
Yep. I was there. The crowd went nuts.
I still remember watching the rendering of light rays and also the wheel suspension action on the jeep vehicle, and thinking; "holy s++t"
(note: ye youngsters out there would look at this and say "pfft, big deal". But last century on OS 9 it was a big deal. Or at least it was going to be a big deal)
Comments
$51B in cash can buy a lot of revenge.
A small fraction of that could have been his own offer and he wouldn't have to have had another of his infamous tantrums.
It's tough for some people when they learn that you can't have the world for free.
"Something is happening to Steve that's sad and not pretty."
- a friend of Steve's
http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?pro...&detail=medium
I wonder if they could buy a controlling interest without acquiring the company outright? Maybe something like the relationship that Apple has to Disney? Buy up shares to become the largest holder and get a seat on the Board? Before anyone calls me stupid, I'm just asking a rhetorical question to stimulate discussion, okay?
To clarify, I don't believe Apple holds any Disney stock.
Steve Jobs personally received 138 million shares in exchange from Disney's acquisition of Pixar. Jobs joined the Disney board of directors upon completion of the merger. Jobs also helps oversee Disney and Pixar's combined animation businesses with a seat on a special six-man steering committee.
Note that being on the board of any corporation does not normally give you outright powers to direct the companies daily operations in any manner.
For example, in Disney's case:
Are we sure this story is accurate? All the junk I've read on the web over the decades is that Steve Jobs has been extraordinarily anti-game on the Mac platform.
Back at the time (before MS bought Bungie), Steve had the head of Bungie come on stage at one of his keynote's (back when they used to webcast them live to everyone) and demo Halo for the Mac universe to see and announce it was coming for the Mac - which at the time was very visually impressive.
This was during one of Apple's "we need games" on the Mac periods that don't last too long and seem to come and go every 4 years or so. Gaming on the PC was really big at the time and Apple probably figured they needed to have that as well to bring users on board.
Then Microsoft bought Bungie...
Its amusing to think Ballmer had one of his people try to calm Stevo down...the whole idea even Microsoft had to treat him with such kid gloves back then is amusing...
Or even remember our names.
Sometimes I can't even remember my own name.
But it's amusing that anyone is even slightly interested in one phone call Steve made ten years ago. If Steve had failed to turn Apple around and form it into the powerhouse we know today, I doubt very much that anyone would care. Now it's viewed as a rare insight into an otherwise very private character, I suppose.
Are we sure this story is accurate? All the junk I've read on the web over the decades is that Steve Jobs has been extraordinarily anti-game on the Mac platform. He wanted the Mac to be treated as a serious business machine (for the rest of us?). Hard to believe he'd then have a fit when a gaming vendor left the platform. Then again, he's supposedly a fairly mercurial personality.
Steve Jobs may be highly demanding. But to characterize him as mercurial, is totally without foundation.
Apple doesn't buy massively indebted corporations with huge financial obligations to employees.
SONY has nearly a 10:1 debt ratio and > 170,000 employees. Not going to happen.
They do if they think it can be turned around. Contracts get re-negotiated all the time & unfortunately for the employees excessiveness often gets canned during a buy out.
Again, I also said I have doubts, but you oversimplify the situation. It would be far worse for Microsoft to move in & grab them up, that would really put some serious hurt on Apple.
A small fraction of that could have been his own offer and he wouldn't have to have had another of his infamous tantrums.
It's tough for some people when they learn that you can't have the world for free.
"Something is happening to Steve that's sad and not pretty."
- a friend of Steve's
The_Little_Kingdom.txt&characters=Dan%20Kottke&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium" target="_blank">http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?pro...&detail=medium
It is amazing that some people take the word of journalists which like lawyer and politicians, are considered survey after survey, the most untrusted of all vocations.
Interesting that the author of your reference, journalist Mark Moritz, has other points of view in Bloomberg's 45 minute TV show, "Bloomberg Game Changers: Steve Jobs," now that he is a venture capitalist.
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/63722844/
Apple doesn't buy massively indebted corporations with huge financial obligations to employees.
with
They do if they think it can be turned around. Contracts get re-negotiated all the time & unfortunately for the employees excessiveness often gets canned during a buy out.
That "Apple" does or has done?
I call BS on this article. This is being made out to be a Ballmer chair-throwing incident about something that SUPPOSEDLY happened 10 YEARS AGO and people are just falling for it and thinking it is fact.
Job's is a lot of things, but the thought of him just calling up Ballmer and yelling at him over a business deal, honestly does not ring true with me. Hell, if that were the case, Ballmer should have a red-phone on his desk that connects directly to Jobs to yell at him for each time Job's smacks him in the business world.
That is how I feel. It just doesn?t ring true. Jobs may have been annoyed by MS buying Bungie, but that was a strategic, well played business move.
Jobs goes on his rants, but they are usually keen summations regarding what he feels is wrong with other companies? and he?s usually ?dead on balls? accurate. But to complain to Ballmar about a purchase just doesn?t sound like him.
Unless Apple is developing a home console, I don't know what company is gonna write a AAA game made only for the Mac.
It's most definitely true. It was one of the most egregious examples of poaching in the industry.
The first anyone heard of Halo, was when Steve Jobs introduced it on stage at an Apple event. It stunned the crowd because at the time it was beyond leading edge graphics and so forth. He finished the announcement with a statement that it was coming "exclusively to the mac" in the near future.
You don't get any closer to a "done deal" than that, but then Microsoft bought them out from underneath Apple for the express purpose of shutting Apple out.
With moves like this, it's no wonder Apple is so secretive about everything...
Can't blame Bungie for selling out but if Jobs thought very highly of this company then he should've just bought them.
Sorry, I couldn't agree more. Now the exception would be, if Bungie didn't make Apple aware they were for sale - which seems silly, can you imagine how much more they could have got with Apple and MS bidding on them.
The only person Steve can be mad at, is himself for not buying them first.
This is one of those times (that was one of those times), that Steve needs to be a big boy and say, oh well, you snooze you loose.
Skip
Sometimes we forget the history of Apple. In early 200s, Apple was still touch and go, in terms of its finances; in spite of the success of the iPad series.
No, Apple was in good financial shape. Apple was only touch and go with respect to PR in the late '90s. Their finances were never a problem.
If Steve wants the Mac platform to be a premiere gaming platform, then he needs to step up and have the OpenGL drivers updated, fixed, and optimized, and needs to do something tangible to court game developers. The arrival of Steam may signify a positive change, but we'll have to wait and see.
With moves like this, it's no wonder Apple is so secretive about everything...
I agree. Once bitten, twice shy.
It's most definitely true. It was one of the most egregious examples of poaching in the industry.
The first anyone heard of Halo, was when Steve Jobs introduced it on stage at an Apple event. It stunned the crowd because at the time it was beyond leading edge graphics and so forth. He finished the announcement with a statement that it was coming "exclusively to the mac" in the near future.
You don't get any closer to a "done deal" than that, but then Microsoft bought them out from underneath Apple for the express purpose of shutting Apple out.
It was a very dirty deal IMO. I'm not sure who's most at fault, Bungie or Microsoft, but someone (probably lots of someones) seriously compromised their morals with this deal.
Yep. I was there. The crowd went nuts.
I still remember watching the rendering of light rays and also the wheel suspension action on the jeep vehicle, and thinking; "holy s++t"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2RVje3MyhQ
(note: ye youngsters out there would look at this and say "pfft, big deal". But last century on OS 9 it was a big deal. Or at least it was going to be a big deal)
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Get over it.
Who are you talking about
The only ones crying today are Microsoft and Bungie.
Certainly not Apple.