Steve Jobs' Yacht Impounded in $3.6 Million Dispute Over Design Fee

DutchNews.nl reports on articles from the Dutch media noting that Steve Jobs' yacht Venus, which launched nearly two months ago, has been impounded by authorities due to a dispute with famed French designer Philippe Starck over design fees for the ship.

Baliffs boarded the brand new yacht Venus last Wednesday with an Amsterdam court order and it is now literally chained to the dock, the FD said. Port service companies have been instructed not to help it to leave.

The dispute centres on a €3m unpaid bill from Starck, known for his minimalist interiors, who worked with Jobs on designing the yacht for years. His fee had been established at 6% of the cost price, Rotterdam lawyer Roeland Klaassen told the paper.

The dispute seems to be related specifically to the cost of building the boat, with Starck claiming that the yacht was slated to cost €150 million while the Jobs family says that it only cost €105 million. The €45 million difference in prices means that Starck believes he is missing out on €2.7 million ($3.57 million) in design fees.

jobs yacht
The original report from Dutch financial newspaper Financieele Dagblad claims that there was no formal contract between Jobs and Starck, and that an out-of-court settlement of the dispute is likely.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Sunday December 22, 2024 8:09 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cites a source within Apple. The report said that iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that is capable of running iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2 Redux

Top 5 Apple Products to Look Forward to in 2025

Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more. We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
m3 macbook air blue

Apple Accidentally Leaked the Next MacBook Air

Sunday December 22, 2024 8:33 am PST by
Apple earlier this month released macOS 15.2, and in doing so it accidentally confirmed new MacBook Air models coming next year. Apple accidentally released macOS 15.2 restore files for unreleased "‌MacBook Air‌ (13-inch, M4, 2025)" and "‌MacBook Air‌ (15-inch, M4, 2025)" models. While it no surprise that the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models were going to be updated with the M4 ...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

iOS 18.2.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhone

Saturday December 21, 2024 4:45 pm PST by
Apple appears to be internally testing iOS 18.2.1 for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software update in our website's analytic logs this week. The logs have accurately revealed many iOS versions before they were released. iOS 18.2.1 should be a minor update that fixes bugs and/or addresses security vulnerabilities, but it is unclear which specific issues might be resolved. The update...
Google Nest Hub 2

New 'HomePod' With 7-Inch Display, A18 Chip, and More Reportedly Launching Next Year

Saturday December 21, 2024 2:03 pm PST by
Apple plans to release a new "HomePod" with a 7-inch LCD display, an A18 chip, and Apple Intelligence support in 2025, according to DigiTimes. Google's Nest Hub It is unclear how much the screen-equipped HomePod would cost, but Apple is seemingly aiming for a reasonable price. In a paywalled report this week, the supply chain publication said Apple has selected China-based manufacturer Tianma ...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: Every Apple Product Coming in 2025

Friday December 20, 2024 9:19 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we take a look ahead to all of Apple's expected hardware announcements for 2025. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Rumors and reports from a range of reliable sources suggest that Apple will release at least 22 new products in 2025, with a series of minor to major updates and refreshes planned for the iPhone, iPads,...

Top Rated Comments

camnchar Avatar
157 months ago
I can't get over how ugly that thing is.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rmatthewware Avatar
157 months ago
You don't make a million dollar deal without having a contract signed! I don't care if you are a minimalist!
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Oletros Avatar
157 months ago
Typical frenchie. Whinging because he's only getting paid €6,300,000 instead of €9,000,000. Aww, diddums..

How is he going to feed his family now? ;)


Because only French people get angry when they are paid less than they have to get?
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MonkeySee.... Avatar
157 months ago
Pay him the lot in pennies.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HarryKeogh Avatar
157 months ago
Wow. That's a yacht of money. Hopefully, boat sides can come together and sea if they can work this out.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bbeagle Avatar
157 months ago
Steve Jobs screwed people in life... and now in death too.

Yes, he was 'only' paid $6 million. I'd like to be screwed that way someday.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)