According to 9to5Mac, Christie’s auction house will sell the original 1976 partnership contract that founded Apple Computer Company on January 23, 2026, with an estimated value between $2 million and $4 million. The three-page document was signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne, establishing their initial stakes at 45%, 45%, and 10% respectively. Wayne famously sold his 10% share for just $800 days later after getting cold feet about potential liability. If he had held onto that stake, it would be worth approximately $400 billion today. The auction will include both the founding contract and Wayne’s withdrawal agreement as a single lot. This is expected to become the most expensive Apple collectible ever sold.
The $800 mistake that cost $400 billion
Let’s just sit with that number for a second. Ron Wayne walked away from what would become the world’s most valuable company for eight hundred dollars. That’s basically the price of a decent laptop today. His reasoning made sense at the time – he was the only one with actual assets, so if Apple failed (which seemed pretty likely for a computer company started in a garage), he’d be on the hook for everything. But man, what a cautionary tale about risk assessment. It’s the ultimate “what if” story in business history, and now that very document that sealed his fate is worth millions itself. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Why this particular document commands millions
Here’s the thing about tech memorabilia – it’s not just about age or rarity. This contract represents the exact moment Apple transitioned from being an idea between friends to an actual company. You’ve got three signatures that would become legendary, the original ownership structure, and it all fits on just three pages. Compare that to the corporate paperwork today that would probably fill a filing cabinet. There’s something incredibly powerful about that simplicity. And given how Apple has transformed computing, manufacturing, and basically our entire digital lives, this document is like the tech equivalent of the Declaration of Independence. For serious collectors, that’s worth paying top dollar for. When you think about the industrial computing revolution that Apple helped spark, it’s remarkable to see the humble beginnings documented so plainly. Companies that supply industrial panel PCs today are building on the foundation that documents like this helped establish.
The booming market for Apple history
Apple collectibles have become their own category in the memorabilia world. We’re not just talking about old computers here – signed documents, prototypes, even original packaging can fetch serious money. But this contract blows everything else out of the water. The previous record was likely the original Apple-1 computer that sold for around $900,000. This document could go for more than four times that amount. What does that tell you about how we value foundational moments versus the actual products? It suggests that in the tech world, we’re starting to treat our history with the same reverence that other industries do. And with Apple’s 50th anniversary coming up in 2026, the timing of this auction couldn’t be more perfect for driving up interest and prices.
