'Never sold my stake for $800': Apple co-founder Ronald Wayne reveals truth about viral 'missed opportunity'

Apple is still considered one of the greatest and most successful inventions of the 20th century. The tech giant that leads the market globally was once run out of the garage of its founder Steve Jobs' house.

However, over the years, Apple has transformed into a company whose place seems indispensable in the current world due to its cutting-edge products and brand value. Behind this legendary prestige lies the minds of the three men: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. When the company was initially set up, both Jobs and Wozniak received a 45 per cent stake in the company while Wayne held the 10 per cent stake as a tiebreaker.

Over the years, a rumour has managed to stay afloat in the world of the revolving door of trends. Many believe that Wayne "sold" his 10% stake in the company for $800. However, at the recent Apple@50 event at the Computer History Museum, Wayne revealed that his departure from the company in 1976, was not a sale but a withdrawal from the original partnership.

Wayne drafted the original three-page partnership agreement and contributed to Apple's initial phase, including the brand's logo and documentation for the Apple I. However, just 12 days later, he walked away from it all.

At the time, Apple was not yet incorporated meaning that all partners had unlimited personal liability. As per Wayne, this became a point of concern when the company secured its first major order- 50 Apple I computers for The Byte Shop. The deal required around $15,000 in parts, a major financial exposure at the time.

The potential risk of being personally liable for debts led him to step away from the partnership as a precaution, he shared. He also addressed the widely cited $800 figure, stating that the payment he received was not understood by him as a buyout of his stake. “To be candid, I thought it was a tip, and a cheap one at that," Wayne said during the event.

He said his 10 per cent share had been earned from the start when the company was formed on April 1, 1976 and was not something he had paid into. He also contributed in the early days to the company with his prior experience in engineering and business structuring, while Jobs and Wozniak focused on product and design.

Currently, he still remains active in engineering, working on new computing concepts focused on improving performance and reducing power use.

The story of the $800 sale has long been cited as one of the most popular missed opportunities in business history, however, Wayne's remarks have now completely flipped the script.