• 苹果公司（Apple）鲜为人知的第三位联合创始人罗纳德·韦恩（Ronald Wayne）最初被授予这家如今市值达3万亿美元的电脑公司10%的股份。在公司成立仅12天后，他便以800美元的价格套现退出，并表示当时对此毫无悔意。如今，这部分股份价值达数十亿美元。
在一些历史书籍的记载里，史蒂夫·乔布斯（Steve Jobs）和史蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克（Steve Wozniak）这两位大学辍学生摇身一变成为天才，于1976年创立了苹果电脑公司（Apple Computer Company）。然而，在公司成立的前12天里，还有一位鲜为人知的第三位联合创始人，他在公司起步阶段发挥了关键作用。
彼时，四十多岁的罗纳德·韦恩正供职于电子公司雅达利（Atari）。身为乔布斯的挚友，他应允协助说服沃兹尼亚克正式成立苹果公司。作为团队里的“智囊”，他甚至亲自起草合同，由此获得了这家科技公司10%的股份，而乔布斯与沃兹尼亚克则各持有45%的股份。
然而，在合同签署不到两周后，韦恩便选择退出——这一决定或许会成为史上最大的财富错失机遇之一。
尽管韦恩当时以800美元的价格出售了所持股份，后续又获得1500美元，从而放弃了对公司的一切索赔，但鉴于苹果公司如今市值高达3万亿美元，他原本持有的10%股份如今价值可能在750亿至3000亿美元之间。
随着新投资者加入和公司上市，乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克的持股比例逐渐被稀释——罗纳德·韦恩很可能面临相同的境遇。
韦恩为何选择套现
事后看来，韦恩的套现决定或许显得愚蠢，但在当时，这位41岁的中年人却认为自己是在保障财务安全。
韦恩在2017年接受《商业内幕》采访时回忆道，公司成立初期，乔布斯为完成向素有拖欠账款记录的“字节商店”（Byte Shop）交付“50或100台电脑”的采购订单，借了1.5万美元。
“如果我们收不到钱，怎么偿还1.5万美元呢？”他说道。
“乔布斯和沃兹当时身无分文，而我却有房有车，还有银行账户——这就意味着，一旦公司破产，我得承担责任。”
提前退休
令人诧异的是，财务问题并非韦恩退出合同的唯一缘由。他还担心这段经历会断送自己的职业生涯。毕竟当时乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克都是才华横溢的年轻新锐，年龄几乎只有他的一半，韦恩觉得这意味着他们会一路高歌猛进，而自己只能在旁观望。
“倘若我留在苹果公司，或许会成为墓地里最富有的人。”这位现年91岁的老人在接受美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）采访时回忆道。
他对《商业内幕》网站表示：“我深知自己正站在巨人的阴影之下，永远不会有属于自己的项目。我最终只能去文档部门，在接下来的二十年里埋头整理文件，这绝非我设想的未来。”
尽管韦恩回忆道，当时对此毫无遗憾，但他后来承认，若能不为钱财忧心自然更好。为了维持生计，他靠出租部分房产以及每月领取社会保障金度日。
“我从未大富大贵，却也从未忍饥挨饿。”他说道。（*）
译者：中慧言-王芳
• 苹果公司（Apple）鲜为人知的第三位联合创始人罗纳德·韦恩（Ronald Wayne）最初被授予这家如今市值达3万亿美元的电脑公司10%的股份。在公司成立仅12天后，他便以800美元的价格套现退出，并表示当时对此毫无悔意。如今，这部分股份价值达数十亿美元。
在一些历史书籍的记载里，史蒂夫·乔布斯（Steve Jobs）和史蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克（Steve Wozniak）这两位大学辍学生摇身一变成为天才，于1976年创立了苹果电脑公司（Apple Computer Company）。然而，在公司成立的前12天里，还有一位鲜为人知的第三位联合创始人，他在公司起步阶段发挥了关键作用。
彼时，四十多岁的罗纳德·韦恩正供职于电子公司雅达利（Atari）。身为乔布斯的挚友，他应允协助说服沃兹尼亚克正式成立苹果公司。作为团队里的“智囊”，他甚至亲自起草合同，由此获得了这家科技公司10%的股份，而乔布斯与沃兹尼亚克则各持有45%的股份。
然而，在合同签署不到两周后，韦恩便选择退出——这一决定或许会成为史上最大的财富错失机遇之一。
尽管韦恩当时以800美元的价格出售了所持股份，后续又获得1500美元，从而放弃了对公司的一切索赔，但鉴于苹果公司如今市值高达3万亿美元，他原本持有的10%股份如今价值可能在750亿至3000亿美元之间。
随着新投资者加入和公司上市，乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克的持股比例逐渐被稀释——罗纳德·韦恩很可能面临相同的境遇。
韦恩为何选择套现
事后看来，韦恩的套现决定或许显得愚蠢，但在当时，这位41岁的中年人却认为自己是在保障财务安全。
韦恩在2017年接受《商业内幕》采访时回忆道，公司成立初期，乔布斯为完成向素有拖欠账款记录的“字节商店”（Byte Shop）交付“50或100台电脑”的采购订单，借了1.5万美元。
“如果我们收不到钱，怎么偿还1.5万美元呢？”他说道。
“乔布斯和沃兹当时身无分文，而我却有房有车，还有银行账户——这就意味着，一旦公司破产，我得承担责任。”
提前退休
令人诧异的是，财务问题并非韦恩退出合同的唯一缘由。他还担心这段经历会断送自己的职业生涯。毕竟当时乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克都是才华横溢的年轻新锐，年龄几乎只有他的一半，韦恩觉得这意味着他们会一路高歌猛进，而自己只能在旁观望。
“倘若我留在苹果公司，或许会成为墓地里最富有的人。”这位现年91岁的老人在接受美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）采访时回忆道。
他对《商业内幕》网站表示：“我深知自己正站在巨人的阴影之下，永远不会有属于自己的项目。我最终只能去文档部门，在接下来的二十年里埋头整理文件，这绝非我设想的未来。”
尽管韦恩回忆道，当时对此毫无遗憾，但他后来承认，若能不为钱财忧心自然更好。为了维持生计，他靠出租部分房产以及每月领取社会保障金度日。
“我从未大富大贵，却也从未忍饥挨饿。”他说道。（*）
译者：中慧言-王芳
• Apple’s little-known third cofounder, Ronald Wayne, was originally given a 10% stake in the now $3 trillion computer company. He cashed out just 12 days after Apple’s inception for $800 and said at the time he had no regrets. Today, his stake would be worth billions.
In some history books, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are known as the two college dropouts-turned-geniuses who founded the Apple Computer Company in 1976. However, for the first 12 days of the business’s existence, there was a lesser-known third cofounder who played a critical role in getting the company off the ground.
At the time, Ronald Wayne was in his forties working at the electronics company Atari. As a close friend of Jobs, he agreed to help convince Wozniak to formalize Apple’s launch. As the sense-maker of the group, who even typed up the contract, Wayne was given a 10% share in the tech company, while Jobs and Wozniak each got a 45% stake.
But less than two weeks after the ink had dried, Wayne had removed himself from the contract—a decision that might be one of the biggest missed financial opportunities in history.
While Wayne sold his stake for $800 at the time and later received $1,500 to forfeit any claim to the company, his 10% share could now be worth between $75 billion and $300 billion, thanks to the company’s now $3 trillion market cap.
As new investors came on board and the company went public, the ownership stakes of Jobs and Wozniak were diluted over time—an outcome Ronald Wayne likely would have faced too.
Why Wayne cashed out
Wayne’s decision to cash out may look foolish in hindsight, but in the moment, the then 41-year-old believed he was looking out for his own financial wellbeing.
In the company’s first days, Jobs borrowed $15,000 to complete a purchase order of “50 or 100 computers” from the Byte Shop, a retail outlet that had a history of not paying its bills, Wayne recalled to Business Insider in 2017.
“If we didn’t get paid, how are we going to pay back $15,000?” he said.
“Jobs and Woz didn’t have two nickels to rub together. I, on the other hand, had a house, and a car, and a bank account—which meant that I was on the hook if that thing blew up.”
An early retirement
Perhaps surprisingly, finances were not the only reason Wayne took his name off the contract. He also feared the experience would put the nails in the coffin of his career. After all, Jobs and Woz were bright young stars and nearly half his age at the time. Wayne thought that meant they’d be propelled forwards, while he’d have to watch from the sidelines.
“If I stayed at Apple I would have probably ended up the richest man in the cemetery,” the now 91-year-old recalled to CNN.
“I knew that I was standing in the shadow of giants and that I would never have a project of my own,” he echoed to Business Insider. “I would wind up in the documentation department, shuffling papers for the next 20 years of my life, and that was not the future that I saw for myself.”
And while Wayne recalled having no regrets at the time, he’s since admitted it would’ve been nice not to worry about money. To make ends meet, he’s relied on renting out part of his property, as well as cashing his monthly Social Security check.
“I’ve never been rich, but I’ve never been hungry either,” he said.