The brand identity of Apple has been related to one man during many years: Steve Jobs. Several books and films have been published explaining how Steve Jobs turned Apple into the most valuable company. But don’t forget that Steve didn’t do the job alone! From the very begging, he managed to surround himself with talented people who helped him build such a successful company. Find out what the future held for the 10 very first employees of Apple!
#10 Gary Martin: accountant manager
Martin was not convinced Apple was going to be a success but decided to join the company anyway. Martin worked for the company until 1983 date at which he moved on to working in the space travel industry. After that, he held several CFO positions in different companies.
#9 Sherry Livingston: Apple’s first secretary
Sherry did a lot for Apple and it’s thanks to her that Apple had the best possible odds at the very beginning.
#8 Chris Espionsa: a part-time student job
Chris was still in high school when he joined the team. Recent news claims he’s still working for Apple…
#7 Michael Scott
Scott was named “Scotty”. The number 7, was given to him in reference to James Bond 007 as he was the one who organized the company.
#6 Rand Wigginton: Apple II project
Rand started by working on the Apple II project. He then worked for tech companies such as eBay, Google, Chegg and Square.
#5 Rod Holt: designer
Holt was a highly appreciated designer who was skeptical about joining Apple at first. Steve Jobs managed to find the words to make him join the adventure. He worked within the company during six years before being pushed out by the company’s new management team.
#4 Bill Fernandez
Bill and Steve jobs were high school friends. Bill also knew Steve Wozniak as they lived not far from each other. Bill became the very first employee at Apple. He stayed within the company until 1993 before starting work in a database company, Ingres.
#3 Mike Markkula: investor
With an investment worth $250.000, Markkula was the main investor of the company. This investment in Apple was worth less than 10% of his total wealth. Thanks to this investment, he owned 30% of the company. He also helped develop the business plan and worked in the company until 1997 before leaving when Steve Jobs came back to work on the project. Since, he has invested in startups and donated money for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
#2 Steve Jobs, employee number 2
Why was Steve Jobs employee number 2 and not number 1? Michael Scott claimed it would have been too much to give Steve the first position in the company. As you probably know, Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple before coming back. He died in 2011.
#1: Steve Wozniak
Steve certainly made the right choice in joining Apple. However, at first he had strongly considered taking a position at HP in Oregon.
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