The invisible third: Apple co-founder Wayne is 85

Ronald Wayne could be immeasurably rich: He is the third co-founder of Apple and is regarded as perhaps the unluckiest person in the IT history. He sold his share already, after not even two weeks and awarded the Chance to swim today in the money.

By Claudia Wiggenbröker and Thomas Spinnler, boerse.ARD.de

"I may have lost millions of dollars. But, frankly, it was personality forming," said Ronald Wayne via Facebook once the world is amazed over the story of his life. Wayne had the lottery ticket with a prize in Hand, exceeds the imagination far and he was giving it away practically.

Because Wayne is one of the co-founder of Apple, the third man, alongside Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. He held a share of ten percent of the company, which is today on the stock exchange almost $ 900 billion in value. Millionaire is so driven far below, If he would keep the Apple share today, he'd be behind Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, the third richest man in the world.

Further course information, to Apple

Steve Wozniak (left) and Steve Jobs in 1976

But as life sometimes plays, gave the then 41-Year-old eleven days after the founding of the electronics Empire in 1976, its share of the driving forces Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak - for a price of $ 800.

The third man is not afraid of the risk

Wayne knew the two about half as old colleagues from the joint work with the PC-forge Atari. But Steve Jobs wanted to stamp his own company from the ground up. The core for this, he had already found: One of his friend Wozniak developed the Personal Computer. However, there was a Problem. Wozniak wanted to make his invention to other companies accessible. This, however, wanted to prevent Jobs.

Here is Ronald Wayne came into the game: The 21-year-older colleague should convince Wozniak to its technology only to the common ideas-forge available. Wayne said Wozniak then, "how a company works". After that, all the difficulties had been "out of the world". A little later, the Treaty on the Apple was placed on top of Foundation in Wayne's apartment.

The first Apple Logo, designed by Ron Wayne

Jobs directly sold 100 computers to a dealer. For this, however, he needed Material, and for Material, you need money. He charged the young company with a loan of $ 15,000.

"I'm too old for sowa s"

Ronald Wayne, this amount pushed the sweat on the forehead. Not that he would not be, in principle, been willing to be a business risk, on the contrary. Your own business idea, the sale of Slot Machines, had already failed. The Deal with the would be bounced between the dealer but, it could have been him dearly, because the three founders were liable personally for their business. "I had the feeling that I was too old for that sort of thing. The two were whirlwinds, it was like having a Tiger by the tail for a walk," recalled Wayne. So he decided to give up his share of Apple.

"Everyone wants to be rich, but I could not keep the pace easy," said Wayne in an Interview with the "Daily Telegraph". He was satisfied with his decision, when you consider the Stress that he was spared: "I would have become rich, but if I'd stayed at Apple, I'd be the richest man in the cemetery." In front of the cemetery there is of course still something of a life. And with a few billion in the account, it would have been certainly different - but better? Who knows.

engineer, author, Illustrator universal genius

Wayne was on 17. In may 1934, so 85 years ago was born. On his website he describes himself as a "Renaissance man". So he probably plays on it, as a man blessed with many talents and a broad Knowledge to be a "universal genius". He was an engineer, author, and Illustrator, it says there that deals with topics such as the nature of money, currencies, forms of government, economic and social issues. And nearly a dozen inventions Wayne was also patented.

Pahrump, Nevada: personality and form in the vicinity of Death Valley

at times seemed to be the Hobby to chase the lucky player the lucky, but he was usually faster. Even the contract, signed by you - to some extent a historical document - sold to Wayne later, for a knockdown price of "several thousand dollars". As the three-page document in 2011, was auctioned off via the auction house Sotheby's, brought it to 1.2 million euros.

Today, he lives in Pahrump, Nevada, about 50 miles from the gambling capital of Las Vegas. Also the Death Valley and the Silicon Valley are not too far. In Pahrump, he operated a small coin and stamp dealers.

Whether you prefer to be the tale of the unlucky, or the tale of the personality, education, tell, probably says more about us than they do about Wayne. How it feels when you have experienced a story that only he knows himself. And after all, Wayne 85 years old can still sit in his lawn chair in the sun of Nevada and tell them about this.

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