The $300 Billion Exit: Who was Ronald Wayne?

In 1976, two young hobbyists named Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak needed an adult in the room. 

They turned to Ronald Wayne, a colleague from Atari. Wayne was the "mature" founder—he drafted the original partnership agreement, drew the very first Apple logo, and held a 10% stake in the company to act as a tie-breaker between the two Steves.

But just 12 days after signing the papers, Wayne got cold feet.

Why he left

While Jobs and Wozniak were young and "penniless," Wayne had assets—a house and a bank account. Because Apple was a partnership, the founders were personally liable for the company’s debts.

When Jobs took out a $15,000 loan to fulfil Apple’s first contract, Wayne panicked. He had been through a failed slot machine business years prior and didn't want to lose his shirt again.

He went to the city office, removed his name from the contract, and returned his shares. For his 10% stake, he was paid a total of $2,300.

The Price of "Playing it Safe"

To understand the magnitude of that 12-day decision, let’s look at the numbers as of early 2026. Apple’s market capitalisation currently hovers around $3.5 trillion (depending on the day's trading).

If Ronald Wayne had held onto that 10% stake—even accounting for the massive share dilution that happens when a company goes public and issues new stock—his wealth would be staggering.

While it is impossible to give a "to-the-penny" figure because of 50 years of complex dilution, if we look at the raw 10% value of the company today:

10% of Apple is worth: $350,000,000,000.00

That is three hundred and fifty billion dollars. For perspective, that would make him significantly wealthier than Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos.

The Lesson

Wayne didn't leave because he didn't believe in the tech; he left because he was afraid of the risk. He chose the certainty of a few hundred dollars over the uncertainty of a trillion-dollar revolution.

It’s a powerful reminder: Opportunity is often disguised as risk.

We often spend our lives trying to protect what we have, only to realise later that we were standing in the way of what we could become.