Wozniak and Jobs gave Wayne a 10 per cent stake in the company to act as a tie-breaker between them.
But Wayne got cold feet, and sold his equity for $US800 12 days later.
Ronald Wayne sold his stake in Apple for $US800. (Ronald Wayne)
Wayne had lost a lot of money running a slot-machine business several years earlier, and did not want to take the risk.
If he had held onto his stake, Wayne would be one of the richest men in the world.
But Wayne said he never had “the slightest pangs of regret”.
“My contribution was not so great that I felt I had been diddled with in any way,” he said.
“It was like having a tiger by the tail and I couldn’t keep up with (Wozniak and Jobs).”
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak went on to make a fortune.
Had he kept his stake in Apple, he would be worth more than $500 billion today.
Wayne sold the original partnership contract paper in the early 1990s for $US500. It was sold at auction by its new owner in 2011 for $US1.6 million.
After being robbed of his life savings in 2004 when a burglar stole a strongbox full of gold and silver, he retired to a trailer park in the Nevada desert.
He now makes a living selling stamps and rare coins.
Wayne later sold his initial contract with Apple for a few hundred dollars. (Sotheby’s International Realty)