Wozniak recalls Jobs kept Atari's $5,000 Breakout bonus and told him it was $700
2C_ornot2C · x · 2026-10-12
In 1975, Atari wanted an arcade game (Breakout) built with as few chips as possible. Steve Jobs, on night shift at Atari, recruited Steve Wozniak—then working full-time at HP—with only four days to deliver. Woz went four sleepless nights, both caught mono, and he finished with just 45 chips versus the 150+ Atari's own engineers needed.
Jobs told Woz Atari paid $700 and handed him a $350 check. In reality Atari paid about $5,000. Woz was happy with his half; Jobs took the rest and bought into an Oregon farm. A decade later Woz learned the real figure from a book about Atari—by then they had founded Apple.
Woz's reflection: "Who cares about money? Well, you do care about friendship and honesty."
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