62 Billion Dollars

 

Vocabulary

giant	cofound	synonymous
scene	vanish	mahogany
hardly	meet up	slot machine
involve	cover up	video arcade
advice	acquaint	framework
gather	sense (2)	all sorts of
discuss	dispute	enthusiastic
gadget	assemble	take apart
Lego	manner	component
brew	champ	circuit board
basis	auction	production
savvy	executive	the fun of it
liable	premises	whatsoever
legal	document	right there and then
stake	arbiter	frequent (2)
logo	registry	close a deal
byte	chain (2)	capital (2)
bill (2)	borrow	reputation
debt	sign away	particularly
falter	on board	manual (2)
plead	extricate	relinquish
avail	formal	to no avail
sever	check (2)	customize
prefer	appeal	interest (3)
worth	proceeds	consultation
rare	end up	social security
regret	shuffle	console (2)
source	opt out

 
 
 

 

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

The name Steve Jobs is synonymous with Apple. Many people realize that Jobs hadn’t created the tech giant all by himself in 1976, but cofounded it with his partner Steve Wozniak.

But what hardly anyone knows is that there was actually a third man involved at the start of the company — then vanished from the scene 12 days later.

Ronald G. Wayne

To find out more, we drove an hour out of Las Vegas — into the Nevada desert — to town of Pahrump.

It’s here that we met up with Ronald G. Wayne.

Now 81 (in 2016), Wayne lives in a $150,000 home. By the front door stands an old silver slot machine. Against one wall, a still-functioning mahogany-housed radio from the nineteen thirties.

Atari

Back in 1976, he lived in Mountain View California, and worked as a computer programmer at Atari, a video arcade and game console company.

One day, Wayne saw a new employee on the premises, a young man by the name of Steve Jobs. The two became acquainted.

Advice

Jobs would regularly turn to Wayne for all sorts of advice.

Jobs once asked Wayne if he should start a business making slot machines. “No, you shouldn’t,” answered Wayne.

Jobs asked if he should go to India to discover himself. Wayne said, “If you must, then go. Just be careful.”

The Living Room

Then one day, Jobs finally asked the question that changed the course of history: “Could you help me talk some sense into Woz?”
“Sure. Bring him over to my house,” Wayne replied. “We’ll sit down, and have a chat.”

And so they all gathered in Wayne’s living room for a discussion.

The Homebrew Computer Club

Jobs and Wozniak had frequented the Homebrew Computer Club, a club for computer enthusiasts. Their main activity was taking apart business computers and reassembling the components into new gadgets, in the same manner that a six-year-old would with a box of Lego.

Woz was the champ: he created a circuit board that would form the basis of the Apple 1, the company’s first computer (in 2015, it sold at an auction for $365,000).

The Enterprise

“Jobs very much wanted Wozniak to get a computer into production, and to become an Apple exclusive,” said Wayne.

Wozniak would have nothing to do with it. For him, everything concerning electronics and computers was for the fun of it. He had no business interest or savvy whatsoever.

Over the course of 45 minutes, Wayne brought Woz on board and developed a business framework.

It was at that moment Steve Jobs announced: “We’re going to start a company. It will be the Apple Computer Company.”

The Document

Wayne typed up the legal documents right there and then, on an IBM typewriter.

In terms of ownership, Jobs and Wozniak got 45% each; Wayne had 10% stake, and would act as an arbiter in any disputes.

Wayne also created the first Apple logo and wrote the Apple I manual.

The Order

Meanwhile, Jobs went out and closed Apple’s first big deal: a small computer chain, the Byte Shop, wanted to buy 50 computers from them.

To get the capital needed to build the computers, Apple had to borrow $15,000.

However, Wayne had heard — from what source he doesn’t remember — that the Byte Shop didn’t have a particularly good reputation for paying its bills.

“If the Byte Shop — and hence Apple — falters, we were individually liable for the debts,” Wayne explained.

“Jobs and Wozniak didn’t have two nickels. I on the other hand had a car … a bank account … and a house … I had all the collateral!”

Opting Out

And so just twelve days after forming Apple, Wayne went to the registry office and extricated himself from the contract. He also relinquished all his stocks in the company.

Wayne told the Steves that he wanted to help out where he could, but that he could no longer officially be part of the company . . .

Jobs pleaded with Wayne to come back to Apple, but to no avail.

A few months after severing formal ties with Apple, Wayne received a letter from Apple.

Jobs offered Wayne a check for $1,500. In return, all Wayne had to do was sign away every possible interest that could be had in the Apple Computer Company.

Wayne did so . . .

“As far as I was concerned, I had already done $1,500 worth of consultation for them,” he said.

$60 Billion

Fast forward 40 years. A 10% share of Apple is now worth about 62 billion dollars.

Wayne now lives on social security checks, plus proceeds from selling rare coins and stamps on the internet.

“If I had stayed with Apple, I would have ended up in a very large documentation department at the back of the company building, shuffling papers for the next 20 years of my life.

That was not the future that I saw for myself.

If money was the only thing that I wanted, there are many ways I could’ve done that. But it was much more important to do what appealed to me.

My advice to young people is always this: find something you enjoy doing so much that you’d be willing to do it for nothing . . . and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Apple-Free Home

If Wayne regrets his decision 40 years ago, he’s very good at covering it up.

Looking around Wayne’s home, there’s no Apple products to be seen. He prefers to build and customize his own technology — it’s more fun that way, he said.

Questions

1. Steve Jobs single-handedly founded and developed Apple. True or false?

2. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne are all equally famous. Everyone knows all three men equally well. Is this right or wrong?

3. Was Wayne like a father or big brother to Jobs?

4. Did Jobs really need Wayne’s help at one point? What did Jobs want Wayne to do?

5. What happened at Wayne’s house? What was the agreement?

6. Wayne opted out of the partnership because the enterprise and work was too difficult and stressful. Yes or no?

7. A few months later, do you think Apple’s business was floundering? Why did Jobs offer $1,500 to Wayne?

8. Wayne regrets what he did 40 years ago; he regrets his decision. What do you think? What might have happened had he stayed with Apple? If Wayne had remained with Apple,

9. Is there a moral or lesson to this story?
 

 

A. What do you think about Steve Jobs and Apple? How do you feel about Steve Jobs and Apple?

B. Have you been involved in an enterprise or partnership? What was it about?

C. I have done things that I later regretted. True or false?

D. Are there things your friend or company has regretted?

E. What things people in your country regret?

F. Do you agree with Wayne’s advice (for young people)?