Steve Jobs died 13 years ago this week.
A private tragedy, but one that was mourned far outside his family.
Jobs is one of those rare business figures who can be counted as a celebrity.
And that's reflected in the collectibles market.
But why is Steve Jobs by far the most collectible and valuable tech-business figure thus far, and what does that mean in terms of value and your buying plans?
1. A limited supply
Steve Jobs died in 2011 aged just 56.
A recurring cancer robbed us of what he might have achieved.
It’s a truism of collecting - and an uncomfortable truth - that such early departures add value.
It’s not a 100% rule, but look at the most collectible names - Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, John F Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln - and alongside undoubted and extraordinary achievements are a tragic early death.
You can speculate about the psychology of this at your leisure, but a brute fact that is sometimes ignored is that an early death means an end to supply of items that can be collected.
We can add to this that Steve Jobs did not like signing things.
Steve Jobs liked to keep his signature to himself.
“I don’t do autographs,” he is said to have told one pen-wielding fan (who did get through his refusal). He’s also said to have insisted that as Apple was a team effort no person should be singled out for adulation.
Jobs autographs are few and far between, and often on very important documents that carry huge historical importance.
So, if you do encounter a genuine Jobs signature and the price is good then it may well be a good investment.
They go for crazy money.
Nearly $200,000 for a business card earlier this year.
Over $0.78 million for a manual with his name on it.
$1.6 million for the Apple founding partnership documents - also signed by Steve Wozniak.
And, it’s very likely that not many more signatures will come to market.
You can read more about Steve's autograph here.
And how autographs are valued and traded by experts here.
2. The mechanics of personal appeal
I’m no tech expert.
There are a handful of big names in the business that I can name off the top of my head:
Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and…?
I can bring Steve Wozniak to mind if I try, but Jobs has an appeal that goes well beyond just the tech sphere.
Musk, Gates, and Zuckerberg have all been pioneers in some way.
All of them are, in this hyperpolarised age, the subject of criticism and conspiracy theory.
Jobs became the face of Apple, and the personal computing revolution.
Jobs predates that.
And the popular perception of him is almost completely positive.
Some accounts of his life show a darker side - of a competitive drive that went to the point of cruelty - but the cliched journalistic term, “the rock star of tech” is entirely appropriate.
There’s something appealing to his life story: his father was a Muslim Syrian immigrant to America of some privilege but Steve was adopted by a family with fewer resources.
He struggled at school and started to show the strong anti-authority streak that makes him so appealing to us.
Jobs had a huge drive to succeed. And he put a lot of effort into how he presented himself. This undoubtedly paid off. Take a look at the media produced in his name, often exploiting it as a way of selling a short cut to success.
Because that's what Jobs represents to many people.
In the process he changed the way people thought about tech.
And tech has changed everyone's life.
Have you ever met an “Apple guy”?
I’m not sure I understand these fandoms so well, but I do know that I’m not going to meet a Microsoft Guy who has connected with Bill Gates and his company in the same way.
Jobs, especially as a young man, took a good photograph too and that never hurts personal appeal.
But his charismatic rebel image, and astounding success from a standing start give him a powerful, visceral appeal to those who are, or would like to be, like him.
2. A limited supply at second remove
Collectibles are by their definition rare.
That’s how the vast majority of their value is created.
So, with Steve Jobs’ name in such short supply the hunt for collectible items moves out from his person to his organisation.
So collectors are now shopping for Apple items.
Early Apple computers were very DIY in appearance, now they're worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
But they must be pioneering, early pieces, and they must be rare.
Most electronic products are massively mass produced.
But, some are not.
These include early Apples, which were made when computing really was a specialist hobby.
People bought machines in bits and screwed them together at home.
As early as 2014 an Apple 1 computer realised $905,000 at auction.
There were around 200 of these devices. Many fewer survive today.
And they’re changing hands for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A 2022 model, hand-numbered by Steve Jobs (and still in working order) sold for $442,118 at auction in 2022.
A prototype sold for $677,000 in the same year.
In September 2024 an Apple 1 sold for $945,000.
Earlier this year, an Apple Lisa (one of the company’s rare failures) made $882,000.
That sale provides an interesting contrast.
It was sold as part of the collection of Paul G Allen.
The vast majority of people will ask, “who”?
Allen was a co-founder of Microsoft, arguably at least as consequential as Apple.
He was a huge success, a wealthy and powerful man with considerable philanthropic weight too.
An extraordinary collector.
His life cut cruelly short by illness.
And, yet I’m confident that for the forseeable future, items related just to Allen will not achieve the value that Steve Jobs items do.
Jobs life story is inspiring. He overcame adversity and wasn't a great student at school.
3. Time marches on
Apple collecting money is moving on.
From early desktop computers to phones.
iPhones can now reach big sums if they are the right model.
Last year, a 2007 iPhone was sold for 300 times its original sale price, going out of the auction room for just short of $200,000.
Why?
It was a model that didn’t sell well on release giving it extra rarity. And it was in wonderful condition.
Plus, it was pioneering.
This was a first generation iPhone from the year Jobs told an audience “Apple is going to reinvent the phone”.
Other less scarce first-generation iPhones in good condition have recently gone for more over $40,000 and $60,000 plus.
And time will continue to march on.
No-one would doubt that Isambard Kingdom Brunel, number 2 in the BBC’s public vote to name the 100 Greatest Britons, was a consequential, important historical figure.
And he was a tech figure at the cutting edge of the business of his time.
So, it’s certainly possible that subsequent Apple products will become collectible. It will help if they are well preserved, if they mark some major breakthrough, and if they are somehow especially linked to a major personality.
And it’s possible that other tech leaders will also become highly collectible figures like Steve Jobs.
Though I think it’s unlikely that anyone will match his charisma and near-universal appeal combined with a reluctance to sign anything.
Collectors looking for future value in autographs and personal memorabilia should consider looking for rising stars in tech.
It’s the business that’s at the centre of everyone’s life in the 21st century.
I just found a very simple and straight-forward Henry Ford autograph that sold for £700.
A good quality Henry Ford photograph signed by the auto pioneer can sell for several thousand pounds.
Did the person who asked Ford to sign for him in 1928 know that Ford would be considered more than a successful businessman, and be a substantial (and very controversial) historical figure?
It was a good spot if that was on his mind.
Which business figures will be the Fords of this generation?
Buy genuine celebrity autographs here
A big name with a valuable autograph like Steve Jobs attracts forgeries. That’s why we certify every autograph we sell as genuine.
We stake our reputation on it, and back it with a no-quibble money-back guarantee.
You should try us.
And, if you want to know when we get new items in then you can sign up for our newsletter here. Some of our best items are sold to regular clientele before we can even list them on online and our newsletter is the best way to see them. You’ll never miss out again.
