The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it is buying longtime partner Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion in stock in a deal that could restore Disney's clout in animation while vaulting Pixar CEO Steve Jobs into a powerful role at the media conglomerate.

Disney's purchase of the maker of the blockbuster films "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo" would make Jobs Disney's largest shareholder, with about a 7 percent stake. Jobs, who owns more than half of Pixar's shares and also heads Apple Computer Inc., will become a Disney director.

"With this transaction, we welcome and embrace Pixar's unique culture, which for two decades, has fostered some of the most innovative and successful films in history," Disney Chief Executive Robert A. Iger said in a statement.

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