Magazine cover signed by Steve Jobs sold for over 12 lakh
San Francisco: A Fortune magazine cover from 1989 featuring Steve Jobs and autographed by him has sold for $16,638 (more than Rs 12.4 lakh), almost 5,000 times its original $3.50 cover price.
The cover is autographed “To Terry, Steve Jobs” and dates from when he was with the computer company called NeXT Software, reports AppleInsider.
Terry had been Jobs’ limousine driver for several years in the 1980s and when asked for an autograph, the Apple founder had an issue of Fortune Magazine on the front and signed that.
“I was one of Jobs’s chauffeur drivers for several years before I asked Jobs to sign this magazine. Although Jobs subsequently called my limousine company to complain about the autograph request,” Terry said in the auction letter of authenticity.
Jobs left Apple in 1985 and started a computer company called NeXT.
Apple acquired NeXT Software after a decade for $400 million. As part of the deal, Jobs returned to the iPhone maker and reported to then CEO Dr Gil Amelio, later taking over the role as CEO.
In 2001, the original Mac OS was replaced with a completely new Mac OS X, based on NeXT’s ‘NeXTSTEP’ platform, giving the OS a modern Unix-based foundation for the first time.
The auction of the cover was held by Nate D. Sanders Auctions and there were only three bids on this piece with the minimum bid being $11,000.
Earlier, a poster for Pixar Animation Studios’ 1995 film ‘Toy Story’ signed by Jobs sold at an auction in Los Angeles for $31,250, which was $6,000 more than its starting price. The poster was 24-inches by 36-inches in dimension and was reportedly signed sometime after 1995. (IANS)
Fyre Festival merchandise up for auction
New York: More than three years after the highly publicized Fyre Festival famously fizzled out in the Bahamas, merchandise and other minor assets are up for sale courtesy of the US Marshals Service.
In a release on Thursday, the US Marshals announced that 126 items from the festival will be auctioned off, with proceeds going toward the victims of Billy McFarland.
McFarland acknowledged defrauding investors of USD 26 million in the 2017 Fyre Festival and over USD 100,000 in a fraudulent ticket-selling scheme after his arrest in the scam. He was sentenced to six years in prison in October 2018. Now 28, he’s serving his sentence at a low-security prison in Ohio, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
This Fyre Festival-branded clothing and other items that were seized from Billy McFarland were originally intended to be sold at the Fyre Festival itself but were kept by McFarland, with the intent to sell the items and use the funds to commit further criminal acts while he was on pre-trial release, US Marshal Ralph Sozio of the Southern District of New York said in the release.
The festival, billed as an ultra-luxurious event and the cultural experience of the decade, was supposed to take place over two spring 2017 weekends on the Bahamian island of Exuma. Models and celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski had promoted it on social media.
Customers who paid USD 1,200 to over USD 100,000 hoping to see Blink-182 and the hip-hop act Migos arrived to learn musical acts were canceled. Their luxury accommodations and gourmet food consisted of leaky white tents and packaged food, prompting attendees to lash out on social media with the hashtag #fyrefraud.
Among the mementos of that festival are sweatpants, shirts and tokens emblazoned with a conspiracy to change the entertainment world. As of Saturday, the lots ranged from USD 10 the minimum bid for sets of two wristbands to USD 300 for a baseball cap bearing the festival logo that had received 20 bids since the auction opened Thursday. At 36 bids, the most popular lot was an aqua blue hoodie featuring the flag of the Bahamas on the back and sleeves patterned with the logo.
The auction, run by Texas-based Gaston & Sheehan, ends Aug. 13. (AP)