May 27, 1981: Apple Offers Second Block Shares to the Public

Apple went public in December 1980. If you were an employee with founder shares it was quite likely you were a millionaire after the initial public offering. Unfortunately, for most Apple employees, the instant millionaires amounted to slightly more than three dozen early hires.

Among the people who gave a lot to Apple and got almost nothing in return was Dan Kottke. Dan was supposedly Steve Jobs’s best friend, but when someone approached Jobs with the idea of giving Kottke some shares if Steve matched the number, Jobs responded by saying "Great, I'll give zero." Besides Apple employees, one more significant group was left out of Apple's IPO--the state of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts law didn't allow offerings where the price exceeded more than 20 times earnings (Apple was close to five times that price) so the residents of Massachusetts were unable to participate in Apple's IPO.

The grievances of the people of Massachusetts were rectified, although not those of snubbed Apple employees, when Apple underwent a second offering of 2.6 million shares on May 27, 1981.