October 19, 2011 8:23 AM

Steve Jobs amassed $6B fortune

By
John Blackstone
(CBS News) 

Steve Jobs is being remembered for many things, but his wealth has largely been out of the picture since his death at age 56 two weeks ago.

Just how much was the tech innovator worth?

Jobs amassed a fortune valued at more than $6 billion, CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reported on "The Early Show."

Photos: The life of Steve Jobs
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dead at 56

Larry Magid, technology analyst and CBS News consultant, said of Jobs, "We know he was a billionaire several times over. He not only had Apple, but Disney and Pixar, so he did quite well."

As Apple's CEO, Jobs was paid just one dollar a year. His 5.5 million shares in Apple, however, are worth more than $2 billion. His holdings in Disney and the animated film maker Pixar are worth even more - about $4.4 billion.

Jobs did not part with money easily, as he showed in June when he rejected a Cupertino City Council request for something extra for approving Apple's new headquarters.

City council member Kris Wang jokingly asked the mogul at the time, "Do we get free Wi-Fi or something like that?"

Jobs replied, "Well, see, I'm a simpleton. I've always had this view that we pay taxes and the city should do those things."

Job's was not known as a philanthropist, though defenders say he may have just have run out of time.

"Giving to charity doesn't just involve writing a check. It involves doing research," Magid said. "(Jobs) was a very busy guy. He not only was running Apple and Pixar, but he was fighting for his life the last several years."

In spite of his riches, Steve Jobs lived relatively modestly in Palo Alto, Calif., a neighborhood of multi-million dollar homes. The man who built Apple into one of the most valuable companies in the world did not live in a castle.

© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
Add a Comment See all 52 Comments
by Imthaid2 October 20, 2011 5:04 AM EDT
"Steve Jobs amassed $6B fortune"

Alot of good that does him now. LOL
Reply to this comment
by gruven13777 October 20, 2011 3:47 AM EDT
His 5.5 million shares in Apple, however, are worth more than $2 billion.
------------

Not anymore.
Apple stock is tanking.
Reply to this comment
by cattiej October 20, 2011 12:15 AM EDT
Jobs outsourced the making of these components to third world countries where people work for slave wages and are slaves. Jobs cost thousands of people in the computer industry their jobs by all the outsourcing..I never like him, still don't like him and I think he should have made sure the products were made in the United States. I would have hated to work for this guy..maybe his family liked him but from what I have read and seen and heard, he was a perfectionist. Life is not perfect..Jobs wasn't perfect was he or he wouldn't be dead...
Reply to this comment
by jade84116 October 19, 2011 7:25 PM EDT
Hey Mr. Trump, Jobs was your equal. By the way, the presidential candidate Huntsman that you dissed ran his father's $6 Billion dollar business!!!!!
Reply to this comment
by CaptainSmollett October 19, 2011 7:17 PM EDT
Just think what life would have been like without him, and the others who have improved our lives with new ideas.

Oh, I forgot. That's what the liberals want: no more rich folks.
Reply to this comment
by jcnbma October 20, 2011 7:27 AM EDT
We just want the rich to pay their fair share.
by Miss_Fritz October 19, 2011 6:47 PM EDT
Six bil. off the backs of third-world iCrap assemblers, now desperate out of work or physically disabled from work conditions at FoxConn (the Apple contractor in Shenzhen). Some genius.
Reply to this comment
by CaptainSmollett October 19, 2011 7:13 PM EDT
What would they be doing if they didn't have those jobs?
Eating dirt?
by StopSocialism October 19, 2011 6:15 PM EDT
Steve Jobs amassed $6B fortune
..sounds like a 1%-er to me. But I won't hold my breath waiting for the ows degenerates to throw away their iPads, iPhones, iSuck, etc. I mean, these are capitalist "basic necessities" that they have "a right" to have. Right?
Reply to this comment
by Imthaid2 October 20, 2011 5:05 AM EDT
They are a right to have cheaper.
by un_able October 19, 2011 6:09 PM EDT
You don't take a penny with you. He should have given more to the poor and DNA research.
Reply to this comment
by bramletabercrombie October 19, 2011 5:23 PM EDT
Somebody do some math for us. What would Steve Job's estate be worth if, all other things being equal, we were under Clinton era taxes? Reagan era? 1970's? 1950's?
Reply to this comment
by gerryrigger October 19, 2011 3:50 PM EDT
I wish CBS picked a better title instead of using the word "amassed". "Amass" connotes money-hoarding and gloating on ones riches. Steve Jobs was not like that! His focus was not on being one of the wealthiest men of the world, but on creating technology for the masses that had his distinct imprint in both form and function. His genius and marketing brilliance made him wealthy, and well deservedly so! The headline should read: Steve Jobs' fortune estimated at 6B
Reply to this comment
by train99 October 19, 2011 5:52 PM EDT
But he must have noticed he had 6 billion dollars while others can't make a living - just like other billionaires. Just like NYC Mayor Bloomberg (right near Wall Street), or Oprah Winfrey, or Gates etc.
It's interesting how some billionaires are favored and others are not. But what these demonstrations going on really have to face is, people having huge amounts while others have nothing. And not, someone gets off 'cause he made nice toys for you.
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