Apple’s Forgotten Co-Founder: Ronald Wayne’s $800 Exit
As Apple marks 45 years since going public, attention has returned to its little-known third co-founder, Ronald Wayne, who briefly held a 10% stake in the company that is now worth over $4 trillion. Unlike Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who are celebrated as the college dropouts-turned-tech legends who founded Apple in 1976, Wayne’s involvement lasted just 12 days, and he sold his share for a mere $800, later receiving an additional $1,500 to waive any claims to the company.
At the time, Wayne, in his forties and working at Atari, helped Jobs persuade Wozniak to formalize Apple’s launch. He also handled key administrative tasks, including typing up the company’s founding contract. Jobs and Wozniak each took 45% ownership, while Wayne received 10% as the group’s pragmatic voice.
However, Wayne soon opted out. His 10% stake, had he kept it, could now be worth $75 billion to $400 billion, a staggering sum reflecting Apple’s massive market capitalization over four decades. While Jobs and Wozniak’s shares were diluted as new investors came aboard and Apple went public in 1980, Wayne would likely have faced similar dilution.
Why He Left
Wayne’s decision wasn’t made lightly. At the time, he was a 41-year-old with a house, a car, and savings, unlike Jobs and Wozniak, who were financially strapped. In Apple’s earliest days, Jobs borrowed $15,000 to fulfill a Byte Shop order—a company with a history of delayed payments. Wayne feared that if the venture failed, he would be personally liable.
“If we didn’t get paid, how would we repay the $15,000?” Wayne told Business Insider in 2017.
He also worried that joining Apple would stall his career. Jobs and Wozniak were half his age and destined to rise fast. Wayne foresaw himself trapped in a back-office role, handling documentation while the young founders propelled forward.
“If I stayed at Apple, I probably would have ended up the richest man in the cemetery,” Wayne told CNN. “I knew I would never have a project of my own… I would have spent the next 20 years shuffling papers.”
Life After Apple
Wayne has said he had no regrets at the time, though he later admitted that financial security would have been welcome. He has made ends meet through modest means, including renting part of his property and collecting Social Security.
“I’ve never been rich, but I’ve never been hungry either,” he said.
While Jobs and Wozniak went on to create one of the world’s most valuable companies, Ronald Wayne’s brief involvement remains a fascinating footnote in Apple’s history—a reminder of the high stakes and tough decisions in the early days of tech innovation.
A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on June 24, 2025.
