Apple’s Youngest Employee Chris Espinosa Net worth: How Apple’s 8th Employee Built a $50 Million Fortune

Apple’s Youngest Employee Chris Espinosa Net worth is over $50 million in 2024. He was Apple’s youngest employee back in 1976. He’s still coding today and is the oldest member at Apple. Chris was just a high school kid who knew how to code in BASIC when he joined Apple, after Steve Wozniak, one of Apple’s founders, agreed to bring him on board. Even though his teacher warned him about working with Steve, Chris just wanted to help out after school, without getting paid.

No one knew that this high school kid would end up as one of the richest people at Apple in 2024. He’s still getting a salary from Apple, which is said to be between $175K and $247K, though this isn’t confirmed. Unlike most people, Chris has never worked for any company other than Apple.

Back in the 80s, Chris was offered 2000 shares of Apple stock at $5 per share by Steve Wozniak, but he turned it down. Today, those shares would be worth $4.2 million. Chris was born in California on September 18, 1961, and started as Apple’s 8th employee on March 17, 1977. He met Steve Jobs at Paul Terrell’s Byte Shop, and Steve brought him to his garage, where Apple started. Chris worked on writing BASIC programs and then took a break to study at the University of California, Berkeley.

In 1981, Steve Jobs asked Chris to drop out of college and come back to work in Apple’s publications department. Chris missed out on Apple’s 1980 IPO and didn’t get any shares, but Steve Wozniak later offered him $10 million worth of shares. Chris turned it down, but today, those shares would have been worth millions. Even though he didn’t take the shares, Steve Jobs made sure Chris was compensated with other stocks and a good salary, which helped him reach a $50 million net worth in 2024.

Chris has been both an engineer and a marketing head at Apple, working on many projects like Mac OS and the iOS Family Sharing system. He’s been with Apple for 48 years and hasn’t retired yet. Chris is married, but he keeps his personal life private. People say his wife was involved in the arts and worked at Petroglyph in Palo Alto around 1996-97.

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