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Meet The Most Unlucky Person In The World, Who Would Have Been Richer Than Elon Musk If He Had Not Done This
Ron Wayne, one of the original founders of Apple in 1976, along with Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, made the unfortunate decision to walk away from the company just 12 days after its founding. This decision cost him the opportunity to become richer than Elon Musk.
Despite Apple’s enormous success, with a market capitalization of $3 trillion, Wayne would have been worth billions if he had held onto his 10-percent stake in the company. Today, even owning just one percent of Apple would equate to about $25 billion.
Wayne, who was 42 years old at the time, played a crucial role in the early days of Apple. He designed the first Apple logo, wrote the original partnership agreement, and created the Apple I manual. However, due to concerns about potential liabilities and the risk of starting over if things went wrong, Wayne decided to leave the company.
His decision stemmed from past experiences, particularly a failed slot machine company he had started earlier. Wayne doubted his abilities as a businessman and was wary of The Byte Shop’s history of not paying debts, which led to his decision to sell his stakes for just $800 and remove his name from the contract. Little did he know that Apple would become a tech giant worth trillions, and his shares would have been worth a staggering $290 billion.
Despite missing out on this massive fortune, Wayne claims he has no regrets. He believed that staying with Apple would have led to a life focused solely on wealth, which he did not desire. He even stated, “If I had stayed with Apple, I probably would have wound up the richest man in the cemetery.”
In retrospect, Wayne’s decision to walk away from Apple may seem ill-fated, but it was a choice he made based on his experiences and personal values. Today, he serves as a reminder that success is not just measured in financial terms.