The garage myth is now unassailable. The myth of the bitten apple, the symbol chosen for still unknown reasons, too. The myth of the two founders, however, not. So much so that on the day of the fortieth birthday of Apple crops up not only the name but also the face and personality of the third founder. His name is Ronald G. Wayne, is 81 years old and lives in the desert of Nevada to an hour drive from Las Vegas ( at the top his portrait, taken from his Facebook profile ). The BBC found him and dedicated a long article ( to read it touches the blue icon ), which tells who the “third man” who for a time worked alongside and helped the two Steves, Jobs and Wozniak. Indeed, what he would be said was he to convince the two – the visionary genius difficult character Jobs, the technician calmly and smiling Wozniak – to work together.
Apple: 40 years in 40 seconds
then came Apple
It was the ’70s, all three worked in the video game production company Atari and the twenty year old Jobs had taken the then forty Wayne as a sort of big brother: one day asked advice on a hypothetical slot machine business, another confided to want to go looking for himself in India. Until one day she asked him a hand to convince Wozniak to work with him. “He thought that I was more diplomatic about him – now remembers Wayne -. He was eager to begin developing the production while Apple Wozniak did not think even the possible business. ” To change the cards on the boards, in Wayne, it took 45 minutes. Three quarters of an hour’s conversation gave way to everything: the garage, the apple, the myth. Even Apple itself, and was the same in Jobs decreed the end of those 45 minutes, “he said, launching a company, will be the Apple Computer Company,” says Wayne. That was found in his pocket 10% of the company (the two Steve, however, took two big slices of 45% each).
Why he decided to leave
It only lasted twelve days. Then the third founder decided to retire: for “a number of good reasons that seem correct to me to this day ‘, as contended during the interview. Now that Apple turns 40, has collected a series of market success and innovation, if the play Alphabet for the distinction of biggest companies in the world, if he had kept that 10% Wayne would be a millionaire. At the time, it was only prudent: Jobs had made an agreement for the production of 50 computers for a small chain of PC, the Byte Shop, and make machines had to obtain a $ 15,000 loan. Wayne does not remember who, but someone warned him: the Byte Shop not always paid his suppliers. “Jobs and Wozniak did not have a penny in two. I had a house, a bank account, a car: I was traceable, “and for fear of being targeted by banks and tax authorities withdrew. The only money you could ever earn thanks to Apple were $ 1,500 for having designed the first logo you see below (from which Jobs did however remove his signature).
His only regret
With that 10%, today would have in his pocket $ 60 billion. At this observation shrugs: “If I really wanted to make money, I could also do it in other ways. But I always thought it was important to do what I like. ” There’s only one thing I regret: having sold his copy of the original contract, signed by him, Wozniak and Jobs. He sold it for $ 500, five years ago that same contract was auctioned for $ 1.6 billion. Incidentally, that same year, ironically, someone gave him an iPad 2. Wayne ended up giving it to turn to someone else. And this could be another myth, its staff: the third founder of Apple has never owned one product of the company that he helped create.
April 1, 2016
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