If it hadn’t been for a Volkswagen bus and a calculator, the inception of Apple as we know it might never have occurred.
Fifty years ago, cofounder Steve Jobs, then in his early twenties, faced financial challenges while nurturing the ambition that everyone should have access to a personal computer. However, like many entrepreneurs, he lacked the necessary funds to turn this vision into reality.
In a bold move, Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus while his fellow cofounder, Steve Wozniak, acquired cash by selling his programmable calculator, together raising $1,300 to cover the costs of the prototype components. Thus, the first Apple computer, the Apple I, was introduced on April 1, 1976. This Wednesday, the company celebrates its 50th anniversary, now valued at an astonishing $3.7 trillion.
The decision to sell paid off. A local computer dealer placed an order for 100 units at $50,000 shortly after the launch, primarily attracting hobby enthusiasts. This initial success provided Jobs and Wozniak with enough capital to develop the Apple II, which catered to the mass market as the first personal computer to incorporate a keyboard and color graphics. Just a year after its introduction in 1977, sales approached $3 million.
“I was worth about over $1 million when I was 23, and over $10 million when I was 24, and over $100 million when I was 25,” Jobs shared with PBS in 1996. “And it wasn’t that important, because I never did it for the money.”
The days of liquidating their possessions to fund their budding company were far behind them.
From college dropout to $10.2 billion net worth: Jobs’ path to Apple success
Steve Jobs did not discover his passion for technology through formal education. Instead, at the age of 12, he already recognized his calling and took significant steps to follow his dreams.
Young Jobs diligently searched the yellow pages to find the contact information of Bill Hewlett, cofounder of Hewlett-Packard. He reached out seeking spare parts for a frequency counter he was attempting to build. To his surprise, Hewlett extended an internship invitation at the renowned $17.4 billion technology firm, where he fortuitously met an exceptionally skilled engineer: Wozniak.
The duo eventually launched their first business, selling "blue boxes" that enabled users to make free long-distance calls illegally. Jobs reflected on those early 1970s experiences as a transformative period that set him on the path toward launching Apple.
“Experiences like that taught us the power of ideas,” Jobs remarked in the 1998 documentary Silicon Valley: A 100-Year Renaissance. “If we hadn’t…made blue boxes, there would have been no Apple.”
Though Jobs later enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, his college journey was brief, dropping out after just one semester. He subsequently gained employment at Atari as a technician and game designer at the young age of 18, marking the last time he worked for someone else. Merely two years later, the Apple I was launched, positioning Jobs on his trajectory to becoming one of the most influential tech pioneers of contemporary history.
Fast-forward five decades, Apple stands as the second most valuable company globally, ranking fourth on the Fortune 500 list. It has sold more than 3 billion iPhones and claims over 100 million Mac users worldwide.
At the time of his passing in 2011, Jobs' net worth was estimated at $10.2 billion. Despite having the financial means to purchase a multitude of luxury vehicles shortly after founding Apple, selling his Volkswagen was a pivotal sacrifice that contributed to his ultimate success.
A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on December 19, 2025.
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