Sam OliverThe 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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48 Comments
If you negotiate a percentage of the total cost, you have to accept that it might not be what you estimated.
Here come the "Apple is doomed" comments
Was it in writing? This is a significant amount of money.
I like the look of the hull of this ship, but the pagoda plopped down on top looks stupid.
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
"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."