The original partnership contract that established Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976, is heading to auction at Christie's in New York on January 23, 2026, with estimates ranging from $2 million to $4 million.
The three-page document, typed on an IBM typewriter by Ron Wayne, bears the signatures of Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Wayne, marking the formal genesis of what would become one of the world's most valuable companies.
The agreement delineated ownership stakes at 45 percent each for Jobs and Wozniak, with Wayne receiving 10 percent. The founding trio established the company to manufacture and sell the Apple I computer, a venture that would fundamentally reshape the technology industry.
Despite its historical significance, the partnership agreement itself proved remarkably short-lived—Wayne withdrew from the company just twelve days after signing the contract.youtube
Wayne's exit, documented in a withdrawal agreement that accompanies the main contract, reflects concerns about personal financial liability. He received $800 immediately and an additional $1,500 later for relinquishing his 10 percent stake. In interviews decades later, Wayne expressed no regret about his decision, reasoning that the venture would prove to be a "roller coaster" unsuitable for his risk tolerance.
However, the consequences of his early departure carry profound counterfactual weight—had Wayne retained his original stake through Apple's subsequent development, it would be valued at approximately $409 billion today, accounting for stock splits and structural changes.
The manuscript itself carries its own peculiar provenance. Wayne sold his personal copy of the founding contract in the early 1990s for $500, a transaction he later expressed regret about, having initially acquired it for his personal papers.
The document then entered the broader collector's market, selling at auction through Sotheby's in December 2011 for $1.594 million. That same private collector appears to be returning the lot to the market, now presenting both the founding agreement and Wayne's withdrawal documentation as a single package.
Christie's is including the Apple documents as a centerpiece of its "We the People: America at 250" auction, a sale focused on artifacts reflecting the first 250 years of American innovation and culture. The auction will take place at Christie's Rockefeller Center headquarters in Manhattan.
The sale shares a catalog with other significant American historical documents, including a draft of the United States Constitution annotated by founding father Rufus King, which carries its own estimate of $3 million to $5 million.
The escalating valuations of Apple memorabilia at auction demonstrate the company's enduring cultural resonance and collector demand. Beyond the founding contract, early Apple artifacts have commanded substantial prices in recent sales.
A factory-sealed first-generation iPhone sold for $190,000 in 2023, representing a markup of roughly 300 times its original retail price. A 1983 Apple business card sold for $181,183, and a ticket stub belonging to Steve Jobs fetched $14,653. Most notably, a pair of Jobs' brown suede Birkenstocks achieved $218,750 at auction in 2022.
The anticipated sale represents more than a financial transaction—it offers collectors and institutions the opportunity to acquire tangible evidence of Silicon Valley's origin narrative. The founding contract exists at the intersection of technological innovation, entrepreneurial ambition, and the historical happenstance that separated industry titans from relative obscurity.
The Sotheby's result of approximately $1.6 million in 2011 provides a clear precedent for the Christie's estimate, though increased media attention surrounding Apple's cultural prominence since that earlier sale may influence final bidding outcomes. The January 2026 auction will determine whether the market assigns an even greater premium to these foundational documents of the modern technology era.
