17-MAY-1934 :- BIRTH OF Ronald Wayne, co-founded Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.).

Ronald Gerald Wayne 

(born May 17, 1934) is a retired American electronics industry worker, co-founder Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) with Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, providing administrative oversight for the new venture. He soon, however, sold his share of the new company for US$800, and later accepted US$1,500 to forfeit any claims against Apple.

Wayne worked with Steve Jobs at Atari before he, Jobs, and Wozniak founded Apple Computer on April 1, 1976. Serving as the venture's "adult supervision", Wayne drew the first Apple logo, wrote the three men's original partnership agreement, and wrote the Apple Imanual.

Wayne received a 10% stake in Apple but relinquished his equity for US$800 less than two weeks later, on April 12, 1976. Legally, all members of a partnership are personally responsible for any debts incurred by any partner; unlike Jobs and Wozniak, then 21 and 25, Wayne had personal assets that potential creditors could seize. The failure of a slot machine company that he had started five years earlier also contributed to his decision to exit the partnership.

Later that year, venture capitalist Arthur Rock and Mike Markkula helped develop a business plan and convert the partnership to a corporation. A year after leaving Apple, Wayne received $1,500 for his agreement to forfeit any claims against the new company.^[2] In its first year of operations (1976), Apple's sales reached US$174,000. In 1977 sales rose to US$2.7 million, in 1978 to US$7.8 million, and in 1980 to US$117 million. By 1982 Apple had a billion dollars in annual sales. In February 2015, Apple's value exceeded $700 billion, making it the most valuable U.S. company by far. Had Wayne kept his 10% stock until then, it would have been worth approximately $60 billion.

Wayne has stated that he does not regret selling the stock as he made the "best decision with the information available to me at the time". Wayne also stated that he felt the Apple enterprise "would be successful, but at the same time there would be significant bumps along the way and I couldn't risk it. I had already had a rather unfortunate business experience before. I was getting too old and those two were whirlwinds. It was like having a tiger by the tail and I couldn't keep up with these guys."