In brief: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, as you may know, left the company in 1985 to create a startup that would go on to launch the first universal programmable remote control. What you may not know is that Wozniak is still technically an employee of Apple and receives a weekly paycheck.
During a recent interview on Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People podcast, Woz reiterated the fact that he was never taken off Apple’s payroll. The co-founder said he is the only person that has received a paycheck every week since they started the company. After taxes are taken out, Woz said he receives about $50 from Apple each week.
It’s a small amount, Woz concedes, but it’s “out of loyalty.”
If you're a tech entrepreneur, you must listen to this interview of Steve Wozniak. https://t.co/3RsWYWmeEE pic.twitter.com/DzrDsR6IDe
— Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki) February 6, 2020
If Apple feels so strongly about Woz that they continue to pay him to this very day, why doesn’t he just go back to work for the company?
“The thing is, I can’t really be inside operations because I’m just too outspoken and honest, and I don’t want to give that up,” Woz said.
Woz also talks in depth about fellow co-founder Steve Jobs and how it was his opinion that Jobs’ personality changed when the company started to make serious money. “He got kind of strict and he wanted to make sure the world got a message that all the computer thinking came from him, from his head, and his thinking,” Woz said.
Kawasaki’s full 51-minute interview with Wozniak is available to listen to as of writing. There’s also a full transcript of the podcast episode over on Kawasaki’s website if you’d rather read through the interview.
Masthead credit: Steve Wozniak by Anton Gvozdikov
https://www.techspot.com/news/83907-steve-wozniak-gets-paycheck-apple-every-week.html
