Historic Apple Startup Contract Poised to Fetch $2M–$4M

The original 1976 partnership contract that created the Apple Computer Company—signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne—is going up for auction in New York early next year, marking one of the most historically significant sales in tech history.

Signed in Menlo Park when Jobs was just 21 and Wozniak 25, the three-page agreement captures the exact moment Apple transitioned from a hobbyist passion to a formal business venture, thanks to Wayne, who drafted the document and briefly held a 10 percent stake before selling it for $800 less than two weeks later.

The contract predates the pivotal Byte Shop order that forced Jobs and Wozniak to hand-build early Apple-1 machines and ultimately paved the way for Apple’s incorporation with investor Mike Markkula later that year.

Previously sold for nearly $1.6 million in 2011, the contract is now estimated at $2–$4 million and will be part of Christie’s January 23, 2025 “We The People, America at 250” sale—highlighting a foundational moment that helped spark the personal computer revolution.