When I came across the very first Apple (Mac) logo this evening, I was quite surprised to find out that it was created by Ronald Wayne, the often forgotten “third founder” of Apple Computer. This old logo depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. Almost immediately, though, this was replaced by the “rainbow Apple,” logo, created by Rob Janoff.

But, what was even more interesting and rather painful was to learn how Ronald Wayne, early on, made the most stupid decision to let go of his partnership and stake with the company, not knowing that Apple would become one of the biggest corporations in the world. Wayne worked with Steve Jobs at Atari before co-founding Apple Computer on April 1, 1976. He was given a 10% stake in Apple, but relinquished his stock for $800 only two weeks later because legally all members of a partnership are personally responsible for any debts incurred by any of the other partners.

Later that same year, venture capitalist Mike Markkula helped develop a business plan and convert the partnership to a corporation. In its first year of operations, Apple’s sales reached US$174,000. In 1977, it jumped to US$2.7 million in 1978 and to US$117 million in 1980. In 1982, Apple reached its first billion dollars in annual sales. Although Wayne’s stake could have been worth as much as US$500 million, he claimed that he didn’t regret selling the stock as he made “the best decision available at that time”.