April 27, 2024

Sotheby's Auction Could Get $150,000 for Apple's Founding Contract

Posted November 28, 2011 at 4:44pm by iClarified · 7658 views
Sotheby's is planning to auction off Apple's founding contract signed on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, reports Bloomberg.

Next month, the contract, with the three founding partners' signatures, hits the auction block in New York. Estimated to bring $100,000 to $150,000, the agreement is one of the highlights of Sotheby's Dec. 13 books and manuscripts sale.

"This is a foundation document in terms of financial history, social history and technological history," said Richard Austin, the head of books and manuscripts at Sotheby's in New York.

The contract was initially in the possession of Ronald Wayne. On April 12, Wayne withdrew as partner and received $800 for giving up his 10 percent ownership of the company.

Sotheby's says the consigner purchased the contract in the mid-1990s from a manuscript dealer who had acquired them from Wayne.

"It was right before Jobs rejoined Apple," he said. "At the time, everyone thought that Apple was pretty much finished."

Read More [via MacRumors]