On December 13, 2011, at an auction held by Sotheby's Auction House in New York, the United States, one auction item attracted widespread attention. This was the three founders of Apple in 1976. The "Apple Partnership Contract Amendment Agreement" signed by Wayne, Jobs, and Wozniak. This "Supplemental Agreement" was signed after Wayne sold 10 shares of Apple for $800. The agreement confirmed that Wayne was no longer an Apple partner. Corporate Partner.
In major media around the world, Wayne's decision has been considered the most expensive mistake in the world, because the equity he sold for $800 that year now has a net worth of $350 billion. His giving up astronomical wealth has always been used as a negative lesson for entrepreneurs, but is this really the case?
In early April 1976, 42-year-old Wayne co-founded Apple Computer with Jobs and Wozniak. Wayne was responsible for designing the first "Apple" logo and drafting the earliest "Apple" logo. "Partnership Contract" and the user manual of the "Apple One" computer. Wayne owned 10 shares of Apple at the time, but just ten days later, Wayne sold all his shares of Apple to two other companies for $800. founder, and then he completely left Apple. Apple has always been cryptic about Wayne's departure, only explaining it by saying "Wayne is experiencing financial difficulties."
But the fact is that although Wayne's income was not high at the time, he was by no means starved. Over the past 35 years, countless media have tried to dig out the truth at that time, and later there were countless theories, which became very popular. This is the discord between Jobs and Wayne.
In fact, Jobs and Wayne had a very deep relationship. Due to their age, Jobs always regarded Wayne as some kind of "father-like figure." Later, although Wayne left Apple, Jobs He never gave up asking him to join Apple again. In 1978, when Apple had established a firm foothold in the highly competitive computer market, Jobs once again solemnly invited Wayne to join Apple, but Wayne rejected Jobs' request without hesitation. He continued working at Atari and later at several electronics companies until his retirement, when Wayne made a living selling rare stamps, rare coins, and gold coins.
Wayne applied for 12 patents in his life, but he did not have enough funds to invest in these patents and did not make a penny from these patents. This made Wayne's life unable to enter the real world. ranks of the rich. Since leaving Apple, Wayne has not owned an Apple product. It was not until September 5, 2011, when he attended the "Modernization Seminar" in Brighton, England, that he received an iPad 2 as a gift. This is the first "Apple" product he owns in his life. By this time, Jobs was already terminally ill.
On October 5, 2011, Jobs passed away due to work-related illness at the age of 56. In grief, 77-year-old Wayne finally revealed the truth about the share resale incident. He said: "Without a doubt, I firmly believe that leaving Apple was the right decision. I know what great young men Steve Jobs and Wozniak are, and they have great intelligence, but they are also true workaholics, like whirlwinds. , you know, this is good for my career, but it is bad for my health. If I had stayed at Apple, the huge work intensity might have killed me."