Courtesy of RR Auction
Coincidentally, this original partnership agreement between Jobs, Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, signed on April 1, 1976, is also for auction this month at Christie’s. (Wayne chickened out shortly after signing the deal and sold his 10 percent stake to Steves for $800). It is among “works of art, furniture and documents that changed American history” offered in the auction titled “We the People: America at 250.” Christie’s estimates that the partnership document will sell in the range of $2 million to $4 million.
Items related to Apple’s early history, especially those related to Jobs, have reached astronomical prices in recent years. Jobs was notable for his reluctance to sign various items, and his signature is considered one of the most valuable of any public figure. Even a signed business card can cost as much as six digits. “There is an emotional connection between Steve Jobs and collectors,” says RR executive vice president Bobby Livingston. “People who start their own internet or engineering companies love Apple products.” Lonnie Mimms, Check #2 owner and founder technology museum in Roswell, Georgia, gushes over the value of such pieces of paper. “You can buy anything in the world with Steve Wozniak’s signature, but Jobs is a different story. And the two of them together are the ultimate form of rarity.”
Items published by Chovanec belong to a different domain. Some of them seem to belong not so much to history as to the sphere of religious relics. After Paul Jobs’ death, Steve promised that Chovanec’s mother would be able to live in the house “until you fall.” Chovanec says the notoriously unsentimental Jobs was interested in nothing more than a few family photos at his former home. As for the desk and its contents, Jobs told him to just take it. Chovanc’s mother, Marilyn, remained at home until her death in 2019. For years, the desk and other items were stored in Chovanc’s garage. He had actually worked for Apple since 2005 and didn’t reveal it to Jobs until after he was hired. During his 16 years with the company, first in its supply chain department and then in its retail group, few knew he was Jobs’ half-brother. “I thought it was nobody’s business,” he says. When Chovanec attended Jobs’ memorial service at Stanford in 2011, he says, “some executives looked at me and said, ‘What is this?’ You what are you doing here?”