Mikey Campbell
It was revealed on Monday that the document which founded Apple Computer Company in 1976, will be sold by Sotheby's in an upcoming books and manuscripts auction, reports Bloomberg.
The original three-page draft is signed by co-founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, and is the third most-valuable lot being sold in the December auction.
“This is a foundation document in terms of financial history, social history and technological history,†said Richard Austin, head of books and manuscripts at Sotheby’s in New York.
Wayne, who was the original owner of the contract, met Jobs while working at Atari Inc. and was later promised a 10 percent stake if he could persuade Wozniak to join Apple. The three founders drafted the official paperwork on April 1, 1976, effectively establishing the fledgling computer company that would turn into today's tech heavyweight.
On April 12, however, Wayne withdrew as partner, receiving $800 for his share of the company. Sotheby's notes that he subsequently received another payment of $1500, though by the end of 2010 his original stake would have been worth an estimated $2.6 billion.
A manuscript dealer, who acquired the founding draft from Wayne, sold the documents to the auction house in the mid-1990's.
“It was right before Jobs rejoined Apple,†Austin said. “At the time, everyone thought that Apple was pretty much finished.â€
Jobs, whose closely guarded personal life was recently exposed in a biography by Walter Isaacson, was seen by many as the driving force behind Apple's dramatic turnaround in becoming one of the largest companies in the world.
The tech guru's untimely death in October generated an enormous amount of press, which is part of the reason Sotheby's is selling the documents.
“With everything in the news, this seems to be the time to do it,†Austin said.
Auction lot featuring Apple's original founding documents | Source: Sotheby's
Included with the original contract is a statement by the County of Santa Clara noting Wayne's withdrawal from Apple as well as an amendment to the original draft.
The auction will take place on Dec. 13 in New York.
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20 Comments
Ronald Wayne's going to sell his house to buy it, then wallow in his tears.
Not a bad payment for a 11 days with the company and the effort I assume he put into convincing Wozniak, but still Wayne has to hate how he could have owned 10% of Apple, Inc.
If I was in Wayne's position, I seriously would have killed myself by now. He sugarcoats this matter very nicely and is highly philosophical about it, but I would bet $2300 that he slams his head against a work table adorned with broken glass and nails every single night of his life.
It's as if I had a winning $2.6 billion dollar lottery ticket and it flew out the window of my car while I was flying down the freeway: I could either try justifying it ("It was God's will."), or freely display the hidden despair that would from then characterize my godforsaken life and eviscerate dreams of what could have been ("I will now end my life by sawing my own head off with a rusty paint can.").
$2,300 = $2.6 billion
Not a bad payment for a 11 days with the company and the effort I assume he put into convincing Wozniak, but still Wayne has to hate how he could have owned 10% of Apple, Inc.
He says he doesn't regret it, but he plays the lottery\
If I was in Wayne's position, I seriously would have killed myself by now. He sugarcoats this matter very nicely and is highly philosophical about it, but I would bet $2300 that he slams his head against a work table adorned with broken glass and nails every single night of his life.
$2,300 = $2.6 billion
You could argue if he were there, Apple would have turned into a brothel eventually.