Ron Wayne, Apple's third and "forgotten" co-founder, worked with Jobs at Atari, designed Apple's first logo, and sold his 10 percent share in the company 12 days after Apple was started.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV two days after Jobs announced he would be resigning as CEO, Wayne, joined by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, shared his take on Apple's early days and working with Jobs in the 1970s.
"Steve Jobs was a very dynamic person to start with. He was fun to be with," said Wayne, adding later, "I knew that the enterprise would be successful, although nobody could have anticipated the kind of success it would realize today."
Wayne explained that Jobs invited him to be a part of the company after Wayne was able to help resolve a disagreement between Jobs and Wozniak, Wayne describing his role as "philosophical tie-breaker in the case of any disputes in the future."
So why did Wayne leave less than two weeks after Apple got its start?
"I was a product developer and designer myself, but I was a little bit intimidated by the fact that I was standing in the shadow of some real geniuses," he said. He elaborated later in the interview, "I am essentially the creative, product development sort of guy, and I wanted to get into a great number of projects which, frankly, I could master. I also realized the fact that I was standing in the shadow of a couple of really brilliant guys here the level of my creativity couldn't possibly match theirs. As I said, I would have wound up doing rather mundane work"
Wayne offered another explanation in a profile published by Mercury News last year. Jobs and Wozniak had little money at the time, and Wayne feared creditors would come looking for him if things went awry.
"I just wasn't ready for the kind of whirlwind that Jobs and Wozniak represented," he told Mercury News. "I felt certain the company was going to be successful; that wasn't the question. But how much of a roller coaster was it going to be? I didn't know that I could tolerate that kind of situation again. I thought if I stayed with Apple I was going to wind up the richest man in the cemetery."
Wayne's 10 percent share of the company would be worth around $35.3 billion today, with Apple's total value estimated at around $353 billion.
Read more about what Wozniak and Apple employees have to say about Jobs's resignation here, or take a look at our overview of Jobs's journey to the top. See what Wozniak has to sayabout Apple's early days below.
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