Jobs family yacht seized in Amsterdam over 3M euro dispute with designer

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The mega yacht commissioned by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has reportedly been sequestered by lawyers for designer Philippe Starck in Amsterdam over a payment dispute.

The yacht was originally set to cost 150 million euros, but the Jobs family now reportedly claims that the actual cost was 105 million euros, according to Dutchnews.nl. The total cost of the ship determines the payment for Starck, who is due 6 percent of the cost price.

As a result, the heirs to the yacht allegedly believe Starck is due 6 million euros, while the designer himself has contested that his fee should be 9 million euros.





Bailiffs reportedly boarded the yacht, named "Venus," last week armed with a court order from Amsterdam. The ship is now said to be chained to the dock, and port authorities have been told the yacht cannot leave.

The Jobs family super yacht was first revealed in October. Jobs began designing Venus himself after returning from a cruise that traveled from Italy to Turkey.

The 80-meter-long ship is made completely of aluminum, with huge plate windows covering the wheelhouse, saloon and main deck entrances. The yacht relies on 27-inch iMacs for navigation, systems control and other seafaring software.

Starck himself outed the yacht earlier this year as a "revolutionary" project that he had been collaborating on with Jobs for seven years before he passed away. Starck said after Jobs' death, he began meeting with his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, to finish the ship.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 48
    If you negotiate a percentage of the total cost, you have to accept that it might not be what you estimated.
  • Reply 2 of 48


    Here come the "Apple is doomed" comments  image

  • Reply 3 of 48
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member
    Was it in writing? This is a significant amount of money.
  • Reply 4 of 48


    I like the look of the hull of this ship, but the pagoda plopped down on top looks stupid.

  • Reply 5 of 48
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by drblank View Post



    Was it in writing? This is a significant amount of money.


     


    http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/12/steve_jobs_yacht_sequestered_o.php


     


    Quote:


    "The FD asks whether the sequestration will last long. Jobs and Starck became very friendly during the building process and there is no formal contract. The paper says an out-of-court settlement is the likely outcome."



  • Reply 6 of 48
    "No formal contract."

    Stark is as bad a business man as he is a designer.

    My curiousity is how the hell they missed on costing by such a large margin. Was that Stark's goof as well? Or, did they just not bother to finish the ship since it isn't exactly seaworthy...

    (Yes, I know his name isn't spelled Stark...)
  • Reply 7 of 48
    tnsftnsf Posts: 203member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by allenbf View Post


    Here come the "Apple is doomed" comments  image



     


    "Jobs super yacht" doesn't even show up on Apple Maps.  This is ridiculous!! 

  • Reply 8 of 48
    kerrybkerryb Posts: 270member
    The super rich has such big problems, this makes me sad.
  • Reply 9 of 48
    jr_bjr_b Posts: 64member
    Steve Jobs should have had Jony Ive design the boat.
  • Reply 10 of 48
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member


    Apple stock price is down $10 on the news.  Or maybe it's because the world didn't end.

  • Reply 11 of 48
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jr_b View Post



    Steve Jobs should have had Jony Ive design the boat.


    Now that would have been subject to well justified outrage.  Using company resources (or distracting company resources) for personal glory/benefit.  So I'm glad he went Tony Stark instead. 

  • Reply 12 of 48
    I dunno, 6m or 9m euro's... The poor guy must be struggling to keep shoes on his feet if it's only 6m he gets ;)
  • Reply 13 of 48

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jr_b View Post



    Steve Jobs should have had Jony Ive design the boat.




    But I'm glad it's PS suing Laurene, and not Jony Ive.


     


    P.S. remind me to not hire him for anything.

  • Reply 14 of 48
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,796member


    Yachtgate!!!!!

  • Reply 15 of 48
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Hey AI, how about reporting on this instead? http://beta.fool.com/jaans/2012/12/21/apple-ipad-mini-screaming/19544/?ticker=AAPL&source=eogyholnk0000001

    Estimates of 12M mini's sold this quarter and Intermedia reporting that Apple owns 92.6% of the small to medium-sized business market, with Android not even making a blip on the radar. Yeah yeah yeah I know the mini estimate is coming from DigiTimes but AI seems to report everything else from them so why not this?

    Or how about Apple capturing a record 53% of the smartphone market in the US?
    http://************/2012/12/21/report-iphone-captures-record-53-of-u-s-smartphone-market-for-the-first-time-as-android-drops-to-42/
  • Reply 16 of 48

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by malax View Post


    Now that would have been subject to well justified outrage.  Using company resources (or distracting company resources) for personal glory/benefit.  So I'm glad he went Tony Stark instead. 



    No, he actually went to Iron Man image

  • Reply 17 of 48
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,301moderator
    The yacht was originally set to cost 150 million euros, but the Jobs family now reportedly claims that the actual cost was 105 million euros, <a href="http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/12/steve_jobs_yacht_sequestered_o.php">according to</a> <em>Dutchnews.nl</em>. The total cost of the ship determines the payment for Starck, who is due 6 percent of the cost price.

    As a result, the heirs to the yacht allegedly believe Starck is due 6 million euros, while the designer himself has contested that his fee should be 9 million euros.

    If they were expecting it to cost 150m euros and actually saved 45m, an extra 3m doesn't seem that significant. Still, without a formal contract, maybe they can haggle him down to 5 euros. I'm guessing the Jobs family has already paid for the boat though so it's probably in their best interests to pay the extra.

    I don't particularly like the style of the boat. It's quite a contrast between Apple's rounded corners and this squared off design. There aren't many examples of boats that aren't garish to look at so it will still stand amongst the better ones but it doesn't look like it's worth 105m euros. None of the yachts here look like they're worth what they cost either:

    http://www.bornrich.com/entry/top-12-high-tech-luxury-yachts/

    but I suppose the same goes for a movie blockbuster or video game.
  • Reply 18 of 48
    aaarrrgggh wrote: »
    "No formal contract."
    Stark is as bad a business man as he is a designer.

    Not necessarily. The issue doesn't seem to be the percent of payment which is what would have been the issue in the 'contract' but rather the costs. Those costs would have receipts etc backing them up. So the lack of a written document on the percent is moot since the heirs have acknowledged the same percent Starck gave
  • Reply 19 of 48

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kerryb View Post



    The super rich has such big problems, this makes me sad.


    It's all relative.

  • Reply 20 of 48


    Quote from the article: "...the yacht, named "Venus,..."


     


    English schoolboys in the '50/60s used to sing...


     


    "Twas on the good ship Venus,


    By God you should have seen us,


    The figurehead was a pro* in bed,


    And the mainmast was a penis."


     


    * "pro" is English for a prostitute, or hooker on your side of the pond.


     


    Can't remember any more verses... but I'm glad Starck stuck to his tried and tested modern-minimalistic design style for the yacht.

     

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