Steve Wozniak

Born

1950 · San Jose, California, US

Roots

White American; Polish and German descent

Family

Middle class

His father was a Lockheed missile engineer who couldn't discuss his work but taught his son electronics from grade school.

Education

UC Berkeley (finished years later under the alias 'Rocky Raccoon Clark')

Started with

A sold calculator

Funded the Apple I by selling his HP-65 calculator; Jobs sold his VW van.

Affiliations & societies

Homebrew Computer ClubDocumented

The 1975 hobbyist club where he first demonstrated the Apple I design — and gave the schematics away to members.

Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1. 1971 · age 20
   Blue boxes

   Builds and sells illegal phone-hacking boxes with Jobs; once calls the Vatican posing as Kissinger.

2. 1976 · age 25
   Apple I

   Designs it nights while at HP — which declines the design five times and releases him to sell it.

3. 1977 · age 26
   Apple II

   Essentially his machine alone; it carries the company for a decade.

4. 1980 · age 30
   The Woz Plan

   Sells his own shares cheaply to early employees left out of the IPO.

5. 1981 · age 30
   The crash

   Survives a plane crash with amnesia; returns to Berkeley under a fake name and funds two money-losing US Festivals.

6. 1985 · age 34
   Leaves Apple

   Spends the next decade, among other things, teaching fifth-grade computer classes.