Steve Wozniak

Within a year, the IBM PC became the safe choice for corporate America.

Within two years, it dominated the business market.

The Apple III never stood a chance.

The irony was brutal.

The open architecture Wozniak champion was now being used against them by the world's most powerful computer company, and Apple's response was to double down on closed systems.

Steve Wozniak left Apple in 1985, and to this day, he remains on Apple's payroll in this ceremonial position.

After walking away, Wozniak did what made him happy.

He went back to UC Berkeley under a fake name to finish his engineering degree.

He taught fifth graders how to build computers.

He funded museums and robotics competitions.

He became exactly what he always wanted to be, an engineer who happened to have money, not a businessman who happened to know engineering.

When people ask him about walking away from billions, he always gives the same answer.

Happiness equals smiles minus frowns.

It's a formula he developed as a kid and never abandoned.

As for Apple, the Macintosh that Wozniak couldn't support eventually saved the company, but not before Apple fired Steve Jobs in 1985.

Not before Apple nearly went bankrupt.

Not before Jobs returned in 1997 and transformed Apple into the most valuable company on Earth.

Jobs' vision of the sealed elegant appliance, the vision Wozniak fought against in 1976, eventually won.

The iPhone, the iPad, the modern Mac are all beautiful closed systems that users admire but don't really modify much.

But here's what's easy to miss.