Employee no. 8, Chris Espinosa, the youngest employee to join Apple Inc. in 1976, became the company’s oldest member in 2024, with over $50 million net worth under his name, and still continues to code today.
He started as a high school kid who knew BASIC coding and joined the team after Steve Wozniak, the founding member, agreed in 1976.
Initially, Chris just wanted to help out for free after his classes despite his teacher warning him about Steve, as they both studied at Homestead High School.
However, no one knew that the high school kid would be one of the richest business executives in 2024 while still receiving a salary from Apple ranging between $175K and $247K, which is still to be verified.
Meanwhile, apart from Apple, Chris Espinosa has no history of working for any other company.
Chris Espinosa denied 2000 shares worth $5 per share in the 80s, which is now worth $4.2 million
The senior employee of Apple Inc. Chris Espinosa is American by nationality. He was born in California on September 18, 1961, to his parents, mother, Sue, and father, whose details are still missing.
He started officially as the no.8 employee on March 17, 1977, although he joined the company in 1976. Steve Jobs was the one who brought Chris into his parents’ garage after meeting at Paul Terrell’s Byte Shop.
The meet-up was nicely portrayed in the 2013 American biographical drama Steve Jobs, which spans the years 1971 to 2000.
Initially, Chris was responsible for writing BASIC programs, which he continued until 1978, when he took a hiatus to pursue his higher studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
However, Steve Jobs wanted him back on his team to work in Apple’s publications department in 1981. So, he asked Chris to drop out of college.
This was just before Apple’s 1980 initial public offering (IPO), so Chris did not receive a share. Later, as a Woz Plan, Steve Wozniak offered $10 million worth of his personal shares, including 2000 of it, to Chris Espinosa at $5 per share in December 1980.
Apples 8th hire and longest tenured employee, Chris Espinosa.
— Rally (@OnRallyRd) June 12, 2024
One of the earliest employees, Espinosa joined when the office was Steve Job's garage
Initially, he wasn’t given any equity
But just before the IPO he was offered 2,000 shares priced at $5 by cofounder Steve Wozniak pic.twitter.com/TZcuURS3wE
Although no one knows why, people believe Chris denied the share because it had less value, which he might regret today as those $10,000 worth of shares now have become $4.2 million worth of assets.
Nevertheless, Steve Jobs compensated Chris Espinosa properly with stocks and a competitive salary, which led to his net worth reaching $50 million in 2024.
Additional Information
- Chris Espinosa was both an engineer and a marketing head at Apple, working as a director of documentation for the Macintosh project while also handling Apple’s Marketing division.
- During his 48-year-long career at Apple, he contributed to Mac OS, HyperCard, and the iOS Family Sharing system, but he has not retired yet.
- Chris Espinosa is married but has not revealed details about his wife or personal life. However, many say his wife is into the arts and worked at Petroglyph in Palo Alto around 1996-97.
