Apple Founding Documents for Auction; $100K+ Expected
A piece of Silicon Valley history.
We've seen some classic Apple machines auctioned online and fetch quite a sum. Next month, another piece of Apple history is on the auction block. Sotheby's in New York will soon auction off the original founding documents of Apple. The documents establishing the Apple Computer Company are signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne and are dated April 1, 1976. The pages are expected to sell for between $100,000 and $150,000 at Sotheby's books and manuscripts auction on December 13.
Though you could probably pick either of the two Steves out of a line up with no problems, the third person named in the documents, Ron Wayne, is less recognizable. This is because Wayne, a former co-worker of Jobs at Atari, left Apple 12 days after he signed the papers, cashing out his 10 percent of the company for just $800. In Walter Isaacson's book about the life of Steve Jobs, Wayne is said to have left because while Jobs and Woz had nothing to lose by starting Apple Computer, he had assets that potential creditors could seize should things go wrong. Had he held onto his 10 percent stake in Apple, it would be worth well over $20 billion today.
The documents were apparently acquired from a manuscript dealer that obtained them from Wayne. They include the original contract as well as the amendment that saw Wayne withdraw as partner.
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You have got to be freaking kidding me. Of all the thing you could waste your money on...
You have got to be freaking kidding me. Of all the thing you could waste your money on...
Whoever is buying them i assume bought an apple products in the past so it makes sense.
You can't deny the historic value of these documents.
I'm sure the founding documents for Edsel are worth some money too.
Hmmm...... Feed starving babies..... or ........ buy Apple contracts ......... I'M GONNA BUY THE APPLE CONTRACTS!
how about that Wayne guy though? that's almost funny $800 vs $20,000,000,000
What historic value do these documents have? Honestly? How does spending a huge amount of money on a few pieces of paper make sense? How big of an apple fanboy do you have to be to even want these?
I would pay up to $50 to have these just so I can take them to an Apple store and pee all over them in front of all the apple fanboys and revel in their tears of sadness.
.........................................
Guys, guys, guys..... Do you really think someone would pay $100k for some papers??? I mean really!
This brings whole new meaning to "overpaying" for the perceived superior value Apple products.
Does it come with itunes?
gotta sell that novelty Apple stuff while they are still in business I guess :-P
Under business purpose it says: World Domination
I feel really bad for Wayne. poor dude. ouch.
April 1st 1976? Come on! These docs are just a ruse.
how about that Wayne guy though? that's almost funny $800 vs $20,000,000,000
$800 to the creditors I imagine, and if the creditors held onto it, what a win.
Maybe they could create a real iCrap app with these documents.
Put them in the recycle bin where it belongs.
It's pretty scary and sad how retarded some of your replies are in here, but I guess your personal hate overshadows any reasonable thought processes you might still have.
It's really tragic.
One doesn't need to like Apple to see the historical value of these papers, Apple is one of the most successful companies in the modern computer era and will go down in history with giants like IBM, Microsoft, Sony and others. And Apple using their own business methods surely managed to take the world going their own way instead of doing what everyone else did before.
If you can't at least see the historical value of these papers then you're plain dumb. The monetary value of these papers can of course be questioned, but as always in an auction the one that pays the highest wins, regardless if it's a TV, piece of papers, old painting or a rare bolt. Simple as that.
And I bet similar papers for IBM or Microsoft would fetch a similar sum of money if not more if they would ever surface and end up in an action.
To all you sickly Apple haters, grow up... If you don't like Apple then stay away from these topics and don't infect the forums and sites with your pointless trolling and hate. Doesn't do anyone good.
As for Wayne he had a lot to lose, and who knew back then that Apple would become as successful as it is today. It's always easy to ridicule and laugh at him today when we got history as evidence, not as easy when the future isn't written and you got a lot of personal stuff at risk, remember that a lot more companies crash and burn than become successful. And this happened in the very infancy of personal computing, so it was a brand new market and development.
Who would pay that much money for a piece of paper...
http://www.reuters.com/article/200 [...] 0520071219
Did you just compare the Magna Carta, a 700 year old document that helped shape a country and arguably all of western civilization, to these papers?
Would be cool for mega rich apple fans but I wouldnt pay 100k for those in this economy
It's pretty scary and sad how retarded some of your replies are in here, but I guess your personal hate overshadows any reasonable thought processes you might still have.
It's really tragic.
One doesn't need to like Apple to see the historical value of these papers, Apple is one of the most successful companies in the modern computer era and will go down in history with giants like IBM, Microsoft, Sony and others. And Apple using their own business methods surely managed to take the world going their own way instead of doing what everyone else did before.
If you can't at least see the historical value of these papers then you're plain dumb. The monetary value of these papers can of course be questioned, but as always in an auction the one that pays the highest wins, regardless if it's a TV, piece of papers, old painting or a rare bolt. Simple as that.
And I bet similar papers for IBM or Microsoft would fetch a similar sum of money if not more if they would ever surface and end up in an action.
To all you sickly Apple haters, grow up... If you don't like Apple then stay away from these topics and don't infect the forums and sites with your pointless trolling and hate. Doesn't do anyone good.
As for Wayne he had a lot to lose, and who knew back then that Apple would become as successful as it is today. It's always easy to ridicule and laugh at him today when we got history as evidence, not as easy when the future isn't written and you got a lot of personal stuff at risk, remember that a lot more companies crash and burn than become successful. And this happened in the very infancy of personal computing, so it was a brand new market and development.
Sad commentary on civilization when a company built on deceit, fraud, and stealing from its gullible fanbase has the chutzpah to smear their faces in excrement. The sooner we bury Apple, the sooner their will more light in technology.
I'm sure the founding documents for Edsel are worth some money too.
Their only historic value is as a case study into deception and defrauding of the too-dumb.
When history books are written, it is in the annals of deception and conning that Apple will shine.
Sad commentary on civilization when a company built on deceit, fraud, and stealing from its gullible fanbase has the chutzpah to smear their faces in excrement. The sooner we bury Apple, the sooner their will more light in technology.
Don't you mean Google or Samsung, who are both far worse?
How can they sell these document which has some values?
It's pretty scary and sad how retarded some of your replies are in here, but I guess your personal hate overshadows any reasonable thought processes you might still have.It's really tragic.One doesn't need to like Apple to see the historical value of these papers, Apple is one of the most successful companies in the modern computer era and will go down in history with giants like IBM, Microsoft, Sony and others. And Apple using their own business methods surely managed to take the world going their own way instead of doing what everyone else did before.If you can't at least see the historical value of these papers then you're plain dumb. The monetary value of these papers can of course be questioned, but as always in an auction the one that pays the highest wins, regardless if it's a TV, piece of papers, old painting or a rare bolt. Simple as that.And I bet similar papers for IBM or Microsoft would fetch a similar sum of money if not more if they would ever surface and end up in an action.To all you sickly Apple haters, grow up... If you don't like Apple then stay away from these topics and don't infect the forums and sites with your pointless trolling and hate. Doesn't do anyone good.As for Wayne he had a lot to lose, and who knew back then that Apple would become as successful as it is today. It's always easy to ridicule and laugh at him today when we got history as evidence, not as easy when the future isn't written and you got a lot of personal stuff at risk, remember that a lot more companies crash and burn than become successful. And this happened in the very infancy of personal computing, so it was a brand new market and development.
...I don't hate Apple or Apple products...I hate the typical Apple fanbois who dislike the fact that people more often than not disagree with Apple and the way they do business or just simply the Apple loyalists that go along with Apple products. Apple fanbois give it right back to the Droid-lovers so why are you bitching in defense of Apple when it constantly goes back-and-forth??? Little one sided don't you think? If you can't handle the jabs then maybe you shouldn't be here either and "infect the forums"...
ericburnby :
I am certainly not happy to be using Google as much as I do. I find Google a threat to freedom, but at least they are not trying to infest hardware with DRM, and Google is not pushing forpay locked-down standards as Apple does.
I completely disagree with your claim about Samsung. I like using Samsung, but if another company came out with a better smartphone I would happily move to the better technology, except for Apple. Apple is such a disgusting threat to technology that I would consider it intellectually embarrassing and immoral to be seen with any of their products, even if it were a superior product (which they have
yet to produce!). Sad commentary on Apple indeed, but that is the reaction you get if you try to lockup a free man in a cage.
Put them in the recycle bin where it belongs.
Interesting that you chose the recycle bin...
Seriously immature replies for the most part here.
I don't care if you like Apple or not, they are and have been a driving force in the computer industry - more at some times than others. Just the degree of vitriol being spewed forth in the replies here should indicate to some degree the impact they've had. If they didn't have an impact, if they lasted as long as - say - BeOS did, nobody much would care.
The papers have historical interest. Just like those that would document the founding of Microsoft, IBM (as previously mentioned,) Intel, AMD, Ford, etc. have. Or, for that matter, letters, say, from Tolkein discussing being stuck on a section of "this story I'm writing," or the initial outlines Lucas had for Star Wars (which have little to no bearing on the final product.) And the "$100,000 - buy papers or feed children?" comments are just as foolish. If a museum buys them, that $100,000 would not have gone toward feeding children either. It will, however, preserve a bit of history.
They are NOT and have NOT been a driving force in the computer industry. They were a failing company that was on it's last leg when they put out to market an MP3 PLAYER. An EXTREMELY overpriced MP3 player at that.
PRAISE APPLE FOR THEIR GENIUS!