Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets

Ronald Wayne holding a can of Busch Light Apple, leaning up against a stacked package of the beer. (Credit: Courtesy of Anheuser-Busch)

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are the names most closely tied to Apple, one of the most valuable companies in history. But 50 years ago, when they were putting pen to paper and officially founding the company, there was a third, lesser-known signature on that document: Ronald G. Wayne.

At the time, Wayne was an engineer at Atari when Jobs recruited him to help persuade Wozniak to take the leap and build a computer company. Wayne—who later described himself as the “adult in the room”—drafted Apple’s original partnership agreement and was awarded a 10% stake, while Jobs and Wozniak each held 45%.