Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of the now $1 trillion company Apple, has been appointed an ambassador for the creation of a "Saudi Tech Hub.”
The Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP) officially appointed Wozniak to the post on Friday, marking the end of the three-day Hajj Hackathon event in Jeddah, Arab News reported. Saud Bin Abdulla Al-Qahtani, the head of the federation and an adviser to the Royal Court, presented the technology entrepreneur with an official certificate to mark the occasion.
The Woz voiced his strong support for the kingdom's Vision 2030 transformation plan as he accepted the nomination.
"This is a remarkable success story in Saudi Arabia that can be written in the near future and will be an example to be followed internationally,” he said, according to Saudi Gazette. "I will be a supporter of this by being an Ambassador of the Saudi Tech Hub, while supporting to the Saudi Federation."
Through Wozniak's appointment, Saudi Arabia aims to promote its transformation plan's technical aspects, as it works to align the kingdom's technical needs with the latest technological developments from around the globe, according Saudi-owned news channel Al Arabiya.
Presenting the Woz with the official certificate, Al-Qahtani emphasized the immense success of Apple and the company's achievements.
"Perhaps the greatest evidence of the scale of these technical transformations in today’s world is that a company such as Apple has become the first public company in the world with a market value of one trillion dollars,” he said. “We are happy that its co-founder has agreed to be an ambassador to the Saudi Technical Hub."
Wozniak co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne back in April of 1976. Wayne was removed from the founding contract 12 days later, as he decided to pursue his own personal dreams.
Jobs and Wozniak went on to grow the computer business, taking the company public in 1980, making both men millionaires overnight. Although Wozniak parted ways with Apple in 1985, he remains a shareholder and is on the employee list, receiving an annual stipend from the company. He regular represents Apple at various events and has become iconic in the global tech community. His co-founder, Jobs, died in 2011.
On Thursday, Apple became the first publicly traded American company to be worth $1 trillion.