Steve Jobs may be a household name, but fewer people are familiar with Steve Wozniak, one of the co-founders of Apple.
Jobs and Wozniak, along with Ronald Wayne, founded the Apple Computer Company (now known simply as Apple) in 1976. Wozniak paused his studies at the University of California at Berkeley to start the company and later returned to finish a degree in electrical engineering.
Wozniak, known affectionately to techies as Woz, was the engineering mastermind to Jobs’ creative genius. He designed and built the first Apple computers himself. Some people even call him “the inventor of the personal computer.”
Here’s a look inside the legendary founder’s life, career and family.
Wozniak’s work at Apple
Steve Wozniak built out the first versions of Apple’s personal computer, starting with the Apple 1 in 1976 and the Apple II the following year. The Apple II would become one of the earliest personal computers available to the general public and a huge commercial success, surprising some competitors.
“The big computer companies said we were going to turn out to be nothing big,” Wozniak told Business Insider in a 2022 interview.
Wozniak said Hewlett Packard rejected his idea for a personal computer five times before he left and cofounded Apple.
Why did Steve Wozniak leave Apple?
Wozniak left his job at Apple in 1985 because he wanted a more engineering-focused role where he wasn’t also running a fast-growing business. He sold much of his Apple stock upon his departure from the company.
But over three decades later, he is still on the payroll at Apple, reportedly out of loyalty to the company. Wozniak’s paycheck nets out to about $50 per week, he told Guy Kawasaki in a podcast interview released in February 2020.
Is Steve Wozniak a billionaire?
Unlike many of his fellow groundbreaking tech contemporaries, including Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and Steve Jobs at the time of his death in 2011, Steve Wozniak is not a billionaire.
He is estimated to have around $140 million to his name.
Who is Steve Wozniak’s spouse?
Wozniak has been married several times, but has been married to Janet Hill, an Apple executive, since 2008.
What is Steve Wozniak doing now?
In 2020, Wozniak co-founded Efforce, a blockchain-powered company that helps organizations reduce energy consumption using NFTs.
The next year, Wozniak co-founded Privateer, an aerospace company that “develops ride-sharing spacecraft to reduce orbital clutter.” Wozniak has said that he wants to “keep space accessible for future generations.”
Wozniak was hospitalized in Mexico City during the World Business Forum in November 2023 after suffering a stroke.
Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.
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