Member-only story
The Man Who Sold 10% Of Apple For $800 in 1976
A co-founder of the largest business in the world sold his stake which would now be worth hundreds of billions of dollars for just $800
For people who invest, selling too soon before an investment breaks out is as agonizing as it can get. No matter how many other successes they may ultimately find, the one that got away always lurks in the back of the mind. Therefore, such agony may have been overwhelming for former investor Ronald Wayne, who co-founded tech giant Apple in 1976, but sold his 10% stake in the fledgling company less than two weeks later for $800 — a far cry from the approximately $250 billion the same stake would be worth today.
Apple is one of the most successful and recognizable companies in the world today — in fact currently possessing the greatest value of any corporation in the world. Their computers, cell phones and other technology are used in mass around the globe. However, it came from humble origins.
On April 1, 1976, Apple Computer Company (which eventually changed its name to the current Apple, Inc.) was founded by three enterprising young men, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. At the time, Jobs was 21, Wozniak was 25 and Wayne was 42 — they all worked together at Atari.
