Apple had a third co-founder who sold his 10% stake for $800 in move that cost him billions
We've all been guilty of some silly financial decisions in our time but selling shares in what went on to become the world's biggest tech company is something most of us have managed to avoid.
Apple is, of course, a brand that is known across the world and despite Donald Trump's best efforts with his tariffs, the company appears to only be getting richer after being valued at over $3 trillion in recent times.
Although we might see the prices of iPhones increase due to the trade tariffs that have been imposed on China, where much of the technology is manufactured, those at the company certainly aren't short of cash given the way its exploded since being founded all the way back in 1976.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are the two names most associated with Apple's foundation but what many people don't realise is that there was a third man, who wasn't also called Steve, but Ronald Wayne.
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Wayne was 41 years old at the time and was essentially brought in to provide 'adult supervision' for the young boffins, who were in their twenties.
He took a 10 percent stake in Apple and wrote up each man's responsibilities ahead of the official founding date of 1 April, 1976, while also drawing up the company's first logo.
So he would have seen it as something of an April Fool's Day joke when he realised how much that stake would be worth 50 years on.
With both Jobs and Wozniak struggling for money and taking out loans, Wayne became concerned that as the most financially stable of the trio, any debts would fall on him, so he sold his 10 percent stake in the company back to them for a measly $800.
Today, that it estimated to be worth around $300 billion, although at the age of 91 it seems likely that he would have sold his shares at this point and likely retired.
However, it seems as if Wayne doesn't regret selling the shares and suggests that the pressure and stress of working with the two young guns would have been too much for him.
“I would wind up in the documentation department shuffling papers for the next 20 years,” he told Business Insider in 2017.
Wayne also felt out of place, like he was 'standing in the shadow of intellectual giants'.
Speaking to Cult of Mac in 2014, he explained: “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.”
Sadly for Wayne, this wasn't the only monetary mistake he would make with Apple, as he also sold his old contract for just $500 in the 90s, something which would later sell for well over $1.5 million in 2011.
Topics: Apple, Business, Steve Jobs, Money
James Moorhouse