Want to own Steve Jobs' first Apple stock certificate? That'll be $195,000
The certificate of Steve Jobs' first Apple stock is going on sale for $195,000.
Autograph dealer Moments in Time is selling a certificate for the first Apple stock awarded to its late co-founder Steve Jobs, who apparently left it behind in his office after being ousted by its then-CEO John Sculley in 1985.
The historic document, which contains a rare Jobs' signature, is now available to anyone willing to fork out $195,000.
Moments in Time CEO Gary Zimet told Silicon Beats that the certificate was entrusted to him by an unnamed Apple employee who'd salvaged it from the trash at Apple's headquarters and has kept it for the past 31 years.
The story goes that Jobs simply left without clearing his office; among the items he abandoned was the certificate, which was hanging on the office wall. The employee nabbed the certificate from the trash after Sculley ordered that Jobs' vacant office be cleared out.
Jobs owned 11 percent of Apple when it went public in 1980 but, after being pushed out in 1985, he sold all but one of those originals shares. As some have pointed out, had he kept them, they would have risen in value from $130m in 1985 to around $60bn by the time of his death.
Zimet's proof of the certificate's authenticity includes the date of 1981 in perforated holes on the certificate and Apple's company seal.
Additionally, the employee has written a notarized letter attesting to the document's legitimacy, which will be shared with the buyer.
As far as valuable documents go, Jobs' stock certificate is on the lower end of the scale compared with other historic documents, such as George Washington's copy of the US constitution, which went for $10m at an auction in 2012.
Zimet said he valued the certificate based on sales of Apple artefacts. According to Silicon Beats, a dissolution letter from Apple co-founder Ronald Wayne went for $1.5m at an auction in 2011.
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