Apple@50 Celebration Reveals "I Never Sold My 10% in Apple” Historical Bombshell From Apple Co-Founder Ronald G. Wayne
Screenshot Pulled from Computer History Museum Archived Livestream
"He's worth $350Billion Dollars," exclaimed the interviewer at last night’s Computer History Museum (CHM) launch of the Apple@50 exhibition celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.
Attendees were treated to a rare and shockingly candid conversational interview with Apple Co-Founder Ronald G. Wayne. The comments set shockwaves through the audience after Wayne dropped the bombshell that he had never actually sold his 10% stake after he, together with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, created Apple 50 years ago.
During the event, Pogue opened by acknowledging Wayne’s foundational role as he revisited the earliest days of Apple’s creation and the pivotal choice that led him to walk away from his 10% stake. Wayne explained that in 1976, he was the steadying force between the two young Steves. At the time, he was already an experienced engineer and businessman, even having designed the first fully electronic slot machine approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
According to Wayne, Jobs needed help persuading Wozniak to leave his secure job at Hewlett-Packard, “Jobs had many talents, but the diplomacy was never one of them,” Wayne joked. He described Wozniak as “reasonable,” but deeply protective of his circuit designs. Wayne said he hosted them both at his home, where he spent about 30 minutes explaining the importance of intellectual property ownership. Wozniak eventually agreed, and that moment, Ronald G. Wayne said, is when Jobs jumped up and declared: “That’s it. We’re going to form a company.”
Jobs proposed a 45-45-10 partnership, with Ronald G. Wayne holding the 10% “tiebreaker” share. Wayne said in the interview with Pogue that he typed the original three-page partnership agreement himself on his IBM Selectric typewriter. Wayne clarified one of the most persistent myths about Apple’s origin story. He didn’t “sell” his 10% for $800 but withdrew from the partnership because Apple was not yet a corporation, meaning all three founders were personally liable for debts.
The first big order, 50 Apple-1 computers for a local bike shop that required about $15,000 in parts, roughly $100,000 in today’s dollars. Jobs and Wozniak, “didn’t have two nickels to rub together,” said Wayne. If the venture collapsed, creditors would come after him. “I didn’t feel I could stand the risk. I could’ve lost everything.”
The $800 check he later received from Jobs arrived with no note. “To be candid, I thought it was a tip, and a cheap one at that,” Wayne said, drawing laughter from the audience.
He also reminded the crowd that he designed Apple’s first logo, the ornate Newton-under-the-apple-tree emblem.
Ronald G. Wayne revealed he is currently collaborating with Charles Stigger on a new computer architecture, “A system that will run on 30% less power and faster than any other computer in the world, faster than any other computer possibly could run.”
Adrienne Mazzone
TransMedia Group
+1 561-908-1683
amazzone@transmediagroup.com
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