Ronald Wayne co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak but sold his stake after about 12 days.
Wayne was an experienced engineer and administrator who had previously worked with Jobs at Atari. When Apple Computer was formed in April 1976, Wayne helped write the partnership agreement, produced an early Apple logo, and drafted documentation for the Apple I.
He owned a 10 percent share of the new partnership. Concerned about personal financial liability and the risks of dealing with Jobs and Wozniak, Wayne sold his stake back to the founders for $800. He later received an additional payment of $1,500 under the agreement.
Wayne’s decision is famous because the shares would eventually have been worth billions of dollars. However, the risk was real: Apple was a new partnership whose founders were seeking orders while having limited resources. Wayne did not participate in Apple’s later growth and has explained that he viewed the decision as sensible given the circumstances at the time.