Nearly 50 years ago, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple, making a significant impact in the realm of personal computing. To finance their new venture, the pioneers sold some of their most valued possessions, including a Volkswagen van and an HP programmable calculator.
Jobs, then just 21, was a visionary and marketing genius, while Wozniak, at 25, was recognized for his exceptional technical skills. Despite their combined talents, they realized they needed more to launch Apple successfully.
This is where Ronald Wayne entered the picture.
Ronald Wayne, the “Adult in the Room” at Apple
In 1976, Wayne was working in product development at Atari. He had earned a strong reputation by creating essential systems for the video game company, including its documentation and inventory tracking systems, as well as manuals and packaging for its products.
That same year, Jobs, a former colleague and friend, called upon Wayne to assist in creating Apple. At 41, his diverse expertise made him an invaluable asset to young entrepreneurs.
He was offered a “small” stake in the company, which initially distributed ownership as follows: Jobs and Wozniak each held 45%, while Wayne took the remaining 10%. As the third founder, Wayne also had decision-making power within the corporate structure. His first major contribution was drafting the original partnership agreement for Apple Computer Company.
A year after Job’s death, Wayne said:
“Mr. Jobs and I knew each other quite well in those early days at Atari, before Apple, and we knew each other’s drives, ambitions and motivations. He could best be described as free-wheeling, energetic, passionate and highly focused. Qualities that he brought to everything he did.”
Wayne made several notable contributions to the nascent Apple. He designed the company’s first logo, depicting Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree, with “Apple” at the top and “Computer Co” at the bottom. He also wrote the operation manual for the Apple I, the company’s first computer.
Apple’s first logo.
To acquire the necessary components for their first batch of computers, Jobs borrowed $15,000 (equivalent to about $86,000 today). Worryingly, the initial order was placed with The Byte Shop, a company known for having a less-than-stellar reputation for timely payments.
Wayne quickly imagined what might happen if Apple defaulted on the loan. The bank could seize the assets of the partners… and he was one of them! The main difference was that both Jobs and Wozniak had little to lose, while Wayne had a house, a car, and savings.
As a result, after just 12 days as one of Apple’s founding partners, Wayne decided that the best course of action was to step back and leave the partnership. He received an initial payment of $800 for his shares in the company, supplemented by another $1,500 a year later (figures from that time).
The Apple 1, Apple’s first product.
Apple wasn’t Wayne’s only source of income. He continued working at Atari, where he stayed until 1978. After Wayne’s departure from Apple, Jobs attempted to convince him to return, but Wayne repeatedly refused, perhaps not realizing how much Apple would grow.
Today, Apple is the world’s most valuable company, with a market capitalization of $2.9 trillion. Wayne would likely be a billionaire if he retained his 10% stake or even a portion of it. Instead, the 90-year-old lives a modest life and has no regrets about his decision.
Daniel Kottke, an early Apple employee (left), and Ronald Wayne, Apple co-founder (right), in 2009.
“I was 40 and these kids were in their 20s. They were whirlwinds–it was like having a tiger by the tail. If I had stayed with Apple, I probably would have wound up the richest man in the cemetery,” Wayne told Cult of Mac in 2014.
He even divested himself of the original Apple contract. In the early 1990s, when Apple was still a small company compared to its massive size today, Wayne sold the document for $500. This historic piece of paper was later auctioned for $1.59 million in 2011.
Ronald Wayne is next to a slot machine, one of his passions.
Wayne was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 17, 1934, and graduated from the School of Industrial Art in New York City in 1953. Alongside his work at Atari and Apple, Wayne developed a keen interest in currency.
His hobby encompassed both theoretical and practical aspects, leading to various personal projects aimed at understanding the dynamics of the world’s monetary systems. He also dedicated himself to designing and building certified slot machines, which ended up in casinos. Additionally, he has authored several books, including Adventures of an Apple Founder.
For decades, Wayne has lived in a small town called Pahrump in Southern Nevada, where he sells stamps and collectible coins. Curiously, he’s never owned or purchased an Apple product, except for an iPad 2 given to him by a journalist, but he later gifted away.
For Wayne, money has never been the most important aspect of life. In a 2016 interview with the BBC, he pointed out that had he stayed at Apple, he would’ve spent the next 20 years shuffling through a mountain of documentation: “That was not the future that I saw for myself.”
Image | Tim Mossholder | Wikipedia Commons
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