Today in History: Apple Inc. Is Formed After Initial Struggle for Product Approval

By M.C. Millman

Apple was officially formed on April 1, 1976. It was launched from Steve Job's home together with Steve Wozniak. 

By the mid-1970s, Steve Wozniak had designs for what became known as the Apple I computer, and Steve Jobs had ideas for how to sell them. 

Hewlett-Packard was the first company the two pedaled their product to. HP refused the idea even though senior engineers agreed it was workable, and they even recognized it could be made cheaply. They decided, though, that the product didn't fit what they felt an HP computer should be.

Next to reject the Apple prototype was Atari.

After that, the pair chose to form the Apple Inc. company on April 1, 1976, with the help of venture capitalists and Atari engineer Ron Wayne. 

Twelve days after joining the mission, Wayne chose to leave the company. Steve Jobs bought out Wayne's 10% share in the company for $800. Wayne also received an additional payout of $1,500. Had Wayne stayed on with Apple, his shares would be worth around $60 billion today.

Apple Inc's first personal computer went on sale in July 1976.

Today, Apple is so successful it has twice as much money as the U.S. Treasury and over $155 billion in excess capital.

Since its challenging beginning, Apple Inc. has become one of the world's top corporations, generating billions of dollars annually and remaining a true leader in innovation and originality.