According to media reports, Nate D. Sanders Auction House recently announced that it will hold a special auction in Los Angeles on April 30 to launch an extremely rare Steve Jobs relic. The starting price is set at US$20,000, targeting senior high-end Apple fans and movie memorabilia collectors.

The core lot of this auction is the first edition book of "Toy Story: The Art and Making of the Animated Movies", which is autographed by Steve Jobs and John Lasseter.

The signatures of two key figures closely connect Pixar’s financial support and creative leadership at a critical moment in the company’s development history. Also included with the book is an original Toy Story brochure in a red leather sleeve.

Looking back on the development history of Pixar, February 1986 was an important node. At that time, Jobs acquired Pixar Animation Studio for US$10 million - US$5 million of which was paid to George Lucas to acquire the computer graphics department of Lucasfilm. After leaving Apple, he invested another US$5 million as working capital and renamed the department Pixar, determined to build an independent animation studio.

Over the next nine years, however, things were not always smooth sailing for Pixar. The company has struggled to build a sustainable business model, and Jobs continued to replenish losses while filling monthly cash gaps from his own pocket.

It is estimated that he has invested as much as $50 million in maintaining Pixar operations. During this time, he also attempted to sell the company to Microsoft, Paul Allen, Hallmark Corporation, and Larry Ellison, among others. Jobs later admitted that if he had known the full cost, he might not have purchased Pixar - the studio was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time.

The turning point came in November 1995. The accompanying book was published on November 9, "Toy Story" premiered on November 22 as the world's first fully computer-animated feature film, and Pixar's initial public offering was completed on November 29.

Despite the objections of bankers, Jobs insisted on pricing the IPO at $22 per share. The stock opened at $47, climbed to an intraday high of $49.50, and finally closed at $39. The offering raised a total of approximately US$140 million, with Jobs holding approximately 80% of the shares, valuing the company at approximately US$1.2 billion. This decade-long gamble eventually made him a billionaire.