Steve Jobs, the renowned co-founder of Apple who died in 2011, was already extremely famous when he passed away, but his reputation seems to have only grown since then.
His approach to business and design decisions has become legendary as stories spread about the way he liked to work, interview candidates, and choose what products Apple would make next.
He was also famously quite a reclusive person, a creature of habit who kept himself to himself much of the time, meaning there isn't all that much Jobs memorabilia out there.
So, you'd better believe that when someone pops up with a unique bit of signed Steve Jobs material, it interests a whole heap of people.
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That's what one person managed in 2021 when they put up an auction lot for a signed letter from Jobs in 1983.
As the auction house explained at the time, Jobs was "a notoriously difficult signer", one who "routinely declined most requests" for signatures.
This makes the letter all the more special - it's a response to a written request for an autograph, and Jobs both denies and grants the request in his reply.
It reads: "I'm honored that you'd write, but I'm afraid I don't sign autographs."
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While that seems like a denial, Jobs then signed his name underneath the letter, meaning that he actually did provide that autograph in the end.
What he probably didn't realize, and what the recipient can only have dreamed of, is the amount of money this signed letter would fetch nearly 40 years later.
When the bidding closed, the letter went for an astonishing $479,939 - way higher than the initial estimate of over $10,000.
Clearly, people think this will only go up in value as Apple continues to cement its legendary position in the tech market.
A recent Reddit post brought the letter back to everyone's attention this week, prompting loads of reactions in the comment section.
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One popular response made a witty comparison, writing: "'Sorry, I don’t speak English'."
Still, there are others in the comment thread reminding people that Jobs was a complicated character, and while this seems like a funny and light-hearted exchange, it does hint at his occasionally spiky attitude.
He routinely offended people with his blunt opinions and manner of communication, according to biographies of him and memoirs of those he worked with.
But this letter seems to sum up the way he was able to harness those occasionally grumpy feelings and still make something great with them.
Featured Image Credit: Rr Auction / Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty