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Early Apple Computer Company check, 6 x 3, filled out in black felt tip and signed by Jobs, "steven jobs," payable to “Cash” for $10, June 25, 1976. Headed "Apple Computer Company," the check uses Apple's first official address at "770 Welch Rd., Ste. 154, Palo Alto"—the location of the answering service and mail drop that they used while still operating out of the famous Jobs family garage. In very fine condition. Boldly filled out and signed by Jobs during this foundational era of Apple Computer, this is an ideal example of his autograph. Encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA as “MINT 9.”
During this period in the summer of 1976, just a few months after founding the Apple Computer Company, Jobs and Wozniak were hard at work building their first product. In March 1976, Wozniak had completed work on an innovative microcomputer design—now known as the Apple-1 Computer—and Jobs suggested that they sell it.
Of course, to make and sell the Apple-1, Jobs and Wozniak needed capital, means they both presently lacked. To fund their fledgling company, the two made hard choices: Wozniak sold his Hewlett-Packard calculator for $500, and Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus for $1,500, which, coincidentally, was the same amount of money they paid Ron Wayne to fully sever ties with Apple the very month this check was signed.
In early July, Apple received its first order from Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, who offered to buy 50 of the computers at a wholesale price of $500 a piece, to retail at $666.66. Although the deal was for $25,000, when the computers were finally assembled and delivered, the modest profits didn’t go into the pockets of either Jobs or Wozniak. The duo immediately reinvested the money back into Apple to keep it afloat and operational, but not before reimbursing local suppliers Jobs had promised to pay within 30 days.
Two years later, the Apple II would be in computer stores, and a 23-year-old Steve Jobs was a newly minted millionaire. But in 1976, that future was still distant, Mike Markkula was a stranger, and Jobs, as this check indicates, was running on a shoestring budget with no salary, no venture capital, and no personal wealth. Whether he was reimbursing himself or simply withdrawing petty cash, this $10 check captures the company’s early struggle for legitimacy: operating out of a garage with minimal resources, zero investors, and a singular vision of building computers.
