Learn About Ronald Wayne: Apple Cofounder

The Life of Ronald Wayne

Wayne was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States on May 17, 1934. He trained to become a technical painter at the School of Industrial Art in New York.

Career

In 1956, at the age of 22, he moved to California. In 1971, Wayne started his first business but then failed.

Founded Apple

Ronald Wayne is the co-founder of Apple Computer Company

In 1976, Ronald Wayne built an internal company documentation system at Atari, where he met colleagues Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. To help solve one of the typical tense discussions about computer design and the future of the industry, Wayne invited two friends to his home to advise them.

After a two-hour conversation about technology and business, Jobs proposed establishing a computer company led by him and Wozniak. These two will each hold a 45% stake and let Wayne receive 10%. Wayne wrote a partnership agreement and the three founders of Apple Computer on April 1, 1976. Wayne also illustrated the first Apple logo and wrote the instructions for using Apple I.

But painful failures in the past and a real passion for engineering work have made Wayne change his mind. Just 12 days after founding the company, he decided to give up his stake in exchange for $ 800 on April 12, 1976.

Decades later, Wayne said he had no regrets selling the company's shares, as this was the best decision for him at the time.

After Leaving Apple

After leaving Apple, Wayne rejected Jobs' offer to return and stay at Atari until 1978, when he joined the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and later an electronics company in Salinas, California

In the late 1970s, Wayne ran a stamp shop called Wayne's Philatelics in Milpitas, California for a short time, then moved to Nevada.

Steve Jobs approached him again, but Wayne still firmly refused.

In the early 1990s, Wayne sold Apple's original collaboration contract, signed in 1976 by Jobs, Wozniak and himself, for $ 500. In 2011, this contract was auctioned for $ 1.6 million.

Wayne decided to retire in Pahrump, Nevada, and the interesting fact is that he never owned an Apple product until 2011, when he was given an iPad 2 at a conference in Brighton, England.

Typical Works

Wayne has published a memoir titled Adventures of a Apple Founder

In July 2011, Wayne published a memoir titled Adventures of a Apple Founder . He later wrote a socioeconomic treatise, Insolence of Office , released October 1, 2011.

He also appeared in the documentary Welcome to Macintosh in 2008, depicting some of his early experience working with Jobs and Wozniak.