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Revision as of 13:53, 6 October 2011
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| Born | 17 May 1934 Cleveland, Ohio |
Ronald Gerald Wayne (born 17 May 1934) founded Apple Computer with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak,[1] but soon gave up his share of the new company for a total of $2,300.[2]
Biography
Wayne was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States[3]. He worked with Steve Jobs at Atari before he, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer on April 1, 1976. Serving as the venture's "adult supervision",[2] Wayne drew the first Apple logo, wrote the three men's original partnership agreement,[4] and wrote the Apple I manual.[2][5]
Wayne received a 10% stake in Apple but relinquished his stock for US$800 less than two weeks later, on 12 April 1976.[5][6] Legally all members of a partnership are personally responsible for any debts incurred by any partner; unlike Jobs and Wozniak, 21 and 25, Wayne had personal assets that potential creditors could seize.[1][5] The failure of a slot machine company he had started five years earlier also contributed to his decision to exit the partnership.[2]
Later that year, venture capitalist Arthur Rock and Mike Markkula helped develop a business plan and convert the partnership to a corporation. Wayne received another check, for $1,500, for his agreement to forfeit any claims against the new company.[2] In its first year of operations (1976), Apple's sales reached US$174,000. In 1977, sales rose to US$2.7 million, in 1978 to US$7.8 million, and in 1980 to US$117 million. By 1982 Apple had a billion dollars in annual sales. He claimed that he did not regret selling the stock as he had made the "best decision with the information available to me at the time."[7] Wayne also stated that he felt the Apple enterprise
would be successful, but at the same time there would be bumps along the way and I couldn't risk it. I had already had a rather unfortunate business experience before. I was getting too old and those two were whirlwinds. It was like having a tiger by the tail and I couldn't keep up with these guys.[4]
Had he kept his 10% stock it would be worth over 35 billion dollars today.[8]
After Apple, Wayne resisted Jobs's attempts to recruit him back to Apple, remaining at Atari until 1978 when he joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and later a Salinas, California electronics company.[7] He is retired and sells stamps, rare coins, and gold from his Pahrump, Nevada home, and had never owned an Apple product until September 5, 2011, when he was given an iPad 2 by Aral Balkan at the Update Conference in Brighton, United Kingdom.[2][9][10]
Wayne also ran a stamp shop in Milpitas, California for a short period of time in the late 70's called "Wayne's Philatelics", and was located on Dempsey Road. After a number of break-ins he moved his stamp operations to Nevada. Interestingly, his logo for the business was a wood-cut style design, with a man sitting under an apple tree, with the "Wayne's Philatelics" name written in a flowing ribbon curved around the tree. This particular logo is interesting because it was the original logo he designed for Apple Computer.
He holds a dozen patents, but has never had enough capital to make money off any of them.[11]
Author
Wayne is planning to publish a memoir titled, Adventures of an Apple Founder, to be initially available exclusively on the Apple iBookstore, then most major book sellers later in 2011.[12]
Wayne has also written a socio-economic treatise titled "Insolence of Office", which he describes as
...the product of decades of research and observation into the evolution of human governance, and the foundations of the American Constitutional Republic. Through this analysis the reader is introduced to a complete, yet simplified understanding of the architecture of our Constitution, its foundations, principles, and the essential meaning of its structure all in the context of modern living.
"Insolence of Office" is also to be released in 2011.[12]
Documentaries
Wayne appeared in the documentary Welcome to Macintosh where he describes some of his experiences with Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Apple Computer.[13][14]
References
- ^ a b Chris Seibold (2009-04-12). "April 12, 1976: Ron Wayne, Apple's Third Founder, Quits". Apple Matters.
- ^ a b c d e f Woz, Jobs and ... Wayne? Apple's forgotten founder still wandering in the desert Mercury News, June 02, 2010.
- ^ "Official Biography Page"
- ^ a b US pensioner Ronald Wayne gave up £15bn slice of Apple The Daily Telegraph, April 23, 2010.
- ^ a b c Wozniak, Steve. "Letters-General Questions Answered". woz.org.
- ^ The gambling man who co-founded Apple and left for $800. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
- ^ a b Linzmayer, Owen W. "chapter one: the forgotten founder" Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer, Inc.'.' Retrieved March 31, 2010.
- ^ Gizmodo (August 28, 2011). "Apple Co-Founder Ron Wayne Could Have Been Worth $35 Billion Today". Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ Bruce Newman (2010-06-09). "June 9, 2010:For obscure Apple co-founder, misstep was a costly one". The Seattle Times.
- ^ Brian, Matt (11 September 2011). "Apple's co-founder Ron Wayne on its genesis, his exit and the company's future". The Next Web. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
- ^ Previous post Next post (2010-06-05). "Apple Co-Founder Ron Wayne's Long, Strange — and Sad — Trip | Epicenter". Wired.com. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
- ^ a b "Ronald G Wayne". Ronald G Wayne. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
- ^ 512k Entertainment (2008-01-01). "Life Before Apple".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ 512k Entertainment (2008-01-01). "Welcome to Macintosh - Trailer".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)