Steve Wozniak is an American engineer, inventor, programmer, and technopreneur whose contributions to technology pioneered the revolution of personal computers.

He is the lesser-known founder of the giant tech company, Apple Inc, unlike the late better-known founder Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak’s net worth is far from billions and is estimated at a mere $100 million. Here’s what we know.

Steve Wozniak’s Early Life and How It All Started

Steve Gary Wozniak was born on August 11, 1950, in San Jose, California. His father, Francis Jerry Wozniak, was an electrical engineer while his mother, Margaret Louise Kern, was a homemaker. As a kid, Woz (which he is popularly called) had a knack for electronics and would always build workable devices from scratch.

His love for computers, as well as his efficiency in handling them, developed as he grew. He attended the University of Colorado Boulder but was expelled after just one year in 1969 for hacking into the college computer system. Wozniak then attended De Anza College and later the University of California, Berkeley, where he finally graduated with an Engineering degree in 1986.

Before graduating from college, Wozniak had a 10-year stint at Hewlett-Packard, where he worked on a mainframe computer. During this period, high school student Steve Jobs landed a summer job with the same company, and it wasn’t long before the two Steves met and became friends through a mutual friend Bill Fernandez who attended the same high school as Jobs.

Steve Wozniak and The Apple Computer

Wozniak and Jobs became closer and began working together. Wozniak built his first working computer prototype in 1975, and in 1976, he single-handedly developed the entire technology for the very first Apple laptop called Apple 1 in Job’s bedroom and garage. Apple 1 was the first laptop to use a keyboard and a normal TV screen for display. Together with Jobs and Ronald Wayne as the administrative supervisor, the trio on April 1, 1976, founded Apple Computer to enable them to sell the computers. Jobs was more skilled in marketing than in tech innovation.

The successful sales of Apple 1 marked the beginning of a new status for the team. They sold each Apple 1 laptop for $666.66 with their first client being Paul Terrell, who bought 50 pieces for his new computer shop named Byte Shop in California. The rapid sales of the Apple 1 made available more funds for Wozniak to intensify and develop his inventions. He then built the Apple 11, which became the first personal computer to use the color display, as well as the first mass-produced personal computer, which enjoyed massive sale success.

Wozniak was inactive in Apple for two years from 1981 following a fatal jet crash of which he was the pilot. After recovering from injuries, which included the inability to create new memories, he returned to Apple in 1983, the same year the stock value of Apple soared to $985 million. However, two years later, Wozniak left Apple, stating that the company was the “bane of his existence.” He sold most of his stocks, but maintained a few; he also benefits from an annual paycheck of $120,000.

Post-Apple and Wheels of Zeus (WOZ)

It was after Wozniak quit Apple in 1985 that he went back to college to obtain an Engineering degree in 1986. He then taught computer science to children in the 5th – 9th grade and even teachers. In 1987, Wozniak founded a startup called CL 9, which developed and sold the first programmable universal remote control.

Intending to develop wireless GPS technology, Wozniak in 2001 founded a venture called Wheels of Zeus (WOZ). He closed Wheels of Zeus in 2006 to form a holding company called Acquicor Technology with two other former Apple employees. The company acquired tech companies and startups to develop them. Wozniak has offered tech advice to several companies, including Scottevest. In 2009, he became the chief scientist of Utah’s Fusion-io, a data storage and server company.

Wozniak’s Recent Works, Net worth and How It Compares to Steve Jobs 

Beginning in 2011, Wozniak began delivering speeches at numerous technology summits and conferences. In 2012, he applied for citizenship in Australia. Sometime in August 2016, Wozniak went on a speaking tour in Australia. As of 2014, he became an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

Wozniak, from March 2016, became an Innovator in Residence at High Point University, North Carolina. In addition to his engineering degree, he has received several honorary engineering degrees from schools in the United States and outside the United States.

Talking about his net worth with the knowledge that he co-founded Apple Inc, the world foremost in the iPhone technology would make you want to hear billions of dollars. But forget it, he is estimated to be worth $100 million. Put that side by side with the wealth of his partner Steve Jobs, which was around $10.2 billion before his death in 2011, and you just keep wondering why he left the company in the first instance.

Steve once owned a fine house in Los Gatos, California. He designed and built an impressive home in 1986 and later sold it in 2009 for $3.1 million. Among other features, the house sports six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, a swimming pool, and a fireplace.

Steve Wozniak Has Been Married Four Times in His Lifetime

Woz has been married four times in his lifetime, even though the first three marriages failed, Woz didn’t give up on love as he has been married to his fourth and current wife since 2008. His four wives include Alice Robertson (1976 – 1980), Candice Clark (1981 – 1987), Suzanne Mulkern (1990 – 2004), and Janet Hill (2008 – Present). More so, the American computer scientist has three children from his marriage to Candice Clark. Let’s meet his wife, ex-wives, and children below.

Alice Robertson was Steve Wozniak’s First Wife

Alice Robertson was Steve’s first wife. The pair met each other for the first through a phone conversation. At the time, Alice contacted him through his Dial-A-Joke service to hear a joke. Afterward, they met physically and eventually began a relationship, which translated into a marital union in 1976. Woz and Alice were married for about four years before their relationship hit the rocks as Wozniak’s dedication to the Apple project meant less time for his family. They had no children in the four years they spent together, and their divorce was finalized in 1980.

He Had Three Children With His Second Wife Candice Clark

Moving on from Alice, Woz started dating US Olympic Slalom Canoe gold-medalist, Candice Carson Clark. She was a staff of the Apple Corporation at the time. They got married in 1981, and the union produced three children – Jesse John Wozniak, Stephen Gary Wozniak, and Sara Nadine Wozniak. Steve Wozniak’s marriage to Clark lasted for six years before they called it quits in 1987. While Steve later went on to a new relationship, Candice, on the other hand, went on to marry a man named Ronald J. Kauffman.

When it comes to their children, it is not known when they were born, and what they do for a living as they have always been kept under the radar. The much we know is that their daughter, Sarah is a lawyer and works for the US Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colorado. However, it won’t surprising to see any of his sons taking after the tech guru someday.

Steve Wozniak’s Union with Suzanne Mulkern Lasted for 14 Years

After the divorce, it took three years for Woz to fall in love again. This time it was with his childhood friend and schoolmate, Suzanne Mulkern. Suzanne is a legal practitioner, she completed her education at the University of California and has been practicing law for over three decades and counting. The duo were good friends during their childhood days, and when they finally reconnected, it didn’t take long for them to hit things off.

Not long after they started dating, Steve Wozniak and Suzanne walked down the aisle in 1990. Although they didn’t have kids from their marriage, Suzanne already had three kids from previous relationships. The couple was together for fourteen years before the union crashed in 2004. Since their divorce, it is not known if Suzanne moved on to another relationship as she gradually went off the radar.

As for Steve, he began another relationship with Kathy Griffin, an American actress best known for her comedy album and specials. She clinched Primetime Emmy Awards for her show, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, in 2007 and 2008, respectively. sadly, their relationship was short-lived as went their separate ways a few months later.

Since 2008, Wozniak Has Been Married to Janet Hill

After he ended his affair with Kathy Griffin in 2007, Wozniak secretly married his fourth wife in 2008. His wife, Janet Hill, worked at Apple Inc. as an Education Development Executive. She had also worked at Holcomb Educational Resources as a Solutions Development Executive. Just like the others, Steve and Janet had been friends for a long time before they started dating. They secretly tied the knot on August 8, 2008, in California, with no friends or relatives in attendance; this is perhaps Wozniak’s longest union ever. The couple has been living happily ever after, and there is no sign of divorce between them. Although they don’t have kids of their own, Janet is a stepmom to Steve’s children from his previous relationships.

Timeline of Steve Wozniak’s Marriages include:

• Alice Robertson (1976 – 1980)
• Candice Clark (1981 – 1987)
• Suzanne Mulkern (1990 – 2004) 
• Janet Hill (2008 – Present)

His Three Children include two sons and a daughter, including:

• Jesse John Wozniak
• Stephen Gary Wozniak
• Sara Nadine Wozniak