It was very smart of Apple to have picked up Comex; an even slightly less savvy firm might have made an enemy out of him instead. But just because it was smart for Apple doesn't mean it was the right role for Comex, who probably has his pick of any security, software protection, or low-level infrastructural kernel-hackey type job the industry.

It's hard to keep anyone in our field for longer than a year or two, and with the reputation that Comex has built, it's probably much harder to hold on to him.

So this seems like the closest thing to a happy ending there was going to be from his direct employment at Apple, at least this time around.

(I know nothing of the particulars here!)