[Steve] Jobs -- who launched a technological revolution at Apple Computer Inc. in 1976, then stumbled in the mid-'80s trying to lead the way toward high-end computer workstations with Next Inc. -- became a billionaire yesterday with his third venture, Pixar Animation Studios.

With Pixar's new movie, "Toy Story," topping the charts for the Thanksgiving weekend, the studio yesterday sold its first shares to the public, and Wall Street went wild. Priced by its underwriters at $22 a share, Pixar's stock quickly jumped to $49.50 when trading began yesterday as investors scrambled to get in on the ground floor of what some figured could become the next Walt Disney Co.

Pixar is just the latest in this year's string of hot stock offerings on Wall Street that runs the gamut from firms providing tools for the Internet such as Netscape Communications Corp. and UUNet Technologies Inc. to microbreweries such as Red Hook and Boston Brewing to consumer companies such as Gucci and Estee Lauder Cos.