Three typed documents that marked the official founding of the Apple computer company have sold at auction for £1.03m/$1.59m.
It took auctioneers Sotheby by surprise: they were expecting up to $150,000.
The documents are dated April 1, 1976, and signed by the three co-founders of Apple, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and accountant Ronald Wayne. The papers include an amendment added 11 days later when Mr Wayne resigned from the company.
The seller was Wade Saadi - founder and chief executive of the IT recruitment firm Pencom Systems.
He bought them from Mr Wayne in 1994 for "several thousand dollars".
The documents reveal that Mr Wayne was paid $800 when he decided to hand back his 10% stake in the firm. He later received a further $1,500.
Mr Wayne played a crucial role in the firm's creation, helping Mr Jobs convince his friend Mr Wozniak to leave Hewlett-Packard and set up the new company.
He was given a 10% stake in the company so he could act as a tie-breaker if the other two men had a disagreement.
However, Mr Wayne left the company after less than a fortnight because he was worried that if it failed his assets could be seized by Apple's creditors.
(Source: BBC)
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