Apple Inc. Stock , AAPL

But it was a long road to these millions for Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, both college dropouts, who set out to design a user-friendly personal computer from the garage of Jobs’ parent`s house in Los Altos, California in Silicon Valley.

A local computer store chain, The Byte Shop, was planning to sell Steve Jobs’ bare circuit boards for $40 each, but instead was convinced to order 50 of Jobs’ fully assembled Apple I computers, paying $500 on each delivery.

Wozniak wasted no time in moving on to the Apple II. Released in 1977, the updated model kept many of the innovative features from the duo’s first machines, like the 60 character-per-second display screen and cassette interface, while adding more memory and colors to the display. Apple II sold at a minimum $1,298 price point, setting the stage for much bigger cash flow into a growing Apple.

In May 1980, just five months before its IPO, Apple released the third generation of its computer. Apple III, like Mac computers of today, forwent the cooling fan. Rather, the computer dissipated CPU heat through the machine’s chassis.

On December 12, 1980, Apple stock began trading on the Nasdaq at  $22 per share. Steve Jobs, the largest shareholder, made $217 million on the first day of trading. By the end of trading on that Friday afternoon, Apple’s stock price had risen by almost 32%, closing near a stock price of $29 and resulting in a market value of $1.778 billion for Apple.

1981 saw Apple’s first shareholder meeting as a public company. Held at the Flint Center at De Anza College in Cupertino. Steve Jobs’ prepared speech was reportedly interrupted several times and eventually devolved into an emotionally-charged rant about respect and betrayal.

After Apple’s first two-for-one stock split in June 1987, shareholders received two shares at a stock price of $41.50 each for their stock which had closed the previous day at stock price of $78.50.  

Throughout the 1990’s, Apple stock price would swing violently. Often times falling below as stock price of $10. But by the time the 2000 boom rolled around, Apple’s stock price skyrocketed above the $30 mark.

The year 2000 also brought about Apple’s second stock spell. On June 21, with Apple’s stock  price at $101.25, Apple issued two shares to investors at $55.62.

Five years later, with Apple stock price at an ever-higher $88.99, Apple issued a third two-for-one stock split. At market close on February 28, Apple’s stock price was $44.88 per share.

Unfortunately, the financial crisis of the late 2000’s would spell an end to Apple’s good times. As concerns of Steve Jobs’ deteriorating health proliferated, Apple began diversifying from computers, adding consumer electronics like iPod and iPhone. The App Store would debut in the summer of 2008.

Four years later, in September 2012, when Apple’s stock price first broke $700 per share (accounting for stock splits), one share of Apple bought on IPO day would now be eight shares with an impressive overall return rate of 25,439%.

Thanks to the astronomical rise over the years, Apple split the stock again in June 2014, this time seven-for-one. Three years later, in 2017, with Tim Cook at the helm and a services business providing a bulk of revenue, Apple’s stock price is still steadily climbing.