Apple has only had one person remain with the firm for its entire history. Still employee number 8, Chris Espinosa talks about staying there for half a century, and counting.
Chris Espinosa has had very many roles at Apple, ranging from System 7 marketing manager to his position today on the tvOS team. But he was hired by Steve Jobs to write programs for the Apple II computer in 1976 — when he was just 14.
"It was really, really fun, because that was the time when people were starting the entire industry from scratch," Espinosa has now told The New York Times. "Whether computer stores or commercial software, he added, "all of these things had to be invented."
Espinosa says he did take a hiatus from Apple in 1978 to study at the University of California, Berkeley. But even as he did that, he remained working part-time for Apple, and wrote the Apple II user manual.
Then in 1981, he was talked into dropping out by Steve Jobs and returning full-time to Apple. He's never left, although he does say that early on, he had about it.
"I was wondering what I was going to do because I had no college degree and I had only worked at one company," he said. "[But] I was here when we turned the lights on. I might as well stick around until we turn the lights off."
Espinosa demonstrated the Apple II computer and wrote programs for it
That means he was there when Apple came close to turning the lights off, and was saved by the return of Steve Jobs. Espinosa calls that return "a cusp" for the company, and describes the years up to then as having been an era of "arrogance."
Those years had many cycles of hundreds or even thousands of employees being laid off. But after a time, Espinosa learned he was always going to get to keep his job because his severance package would cost too much.
Today, he says, there are companies that come and go because they think they can emulate Apple without understanding what it does. "So much of tech is now just seeking the next bubble and getting out before it pops," he says.
"That's not what we do here," concludes Espinosa.
Espinosa's new interview comes as Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary. Tim Cook started those celebrations back in March 2026, and has now concluded them with a letter to staff.
