Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is being sued for stealing the idea to launch Woz University, a tech school that was allegedly dreamed up by a Connecticut business professor.
According to Insider, Woz is facing a million-dollar lawsuit filed by professor Ralph Reilly, who alleges he came to Wozniak with the idea in 2010, with the pair even sealing the deal on camera with a handshake the following year.
After a few false starts, Wozniak went it alone, launching Woz U in 2017. It seems Reilly has a fair case, with emails trades between the pair showing that Wozniak acknowledges the idea was Reilly’s.
“It’s exactly what I envisioned for Woz Institute of Technology when I first approached you with the idea,” Reilly wrote.
“You are right on the mark,” Wozniak responded. “You had the right idea. I doubt it would have happened without your initial idea!”
The three-day case goes to trial next month in Arizona, scheduled to start on June 7.
