A legal dispute that kept the yacht of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs impounded in Amsterdam has been resolved.
The Jobs family can now take possession of the 256-foot yacht, after it is sailed from Europe to the Unites States for them.
French designer Phillipe Starck had agreed to build the ship -- named "Venus" -- for Jobs, who had plenty of input into its creation.
Starck said the two became friends, so they never put the purchase price down in writing. Starck delivered the finished yacht this fall, after Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer, but later claimed that he was underpaid by about 3 million Euros -- around $4 million.
The total price tag for the yacht was around $138 million, so maybe the Jobs estate thought $134 million was close enough.
The two parties came to an undisclosed agreement.
"The Venus is not under arrest," said Gérard Moussault, the Dutch lawyer of the Apple estate. "A solution has been found and a guarantee has been deposited in a bank account so that the boat can leave."
The yacht itself looks like a floating Apple product. It has clean, minimal lines and a white color scheme. Moat of the corners are angular, though, not rounded.
The ship is controlled by seven 21-inch iMacs.
While reports conflict, it seems the underpayment resulted from estimation errors. Starck was supposed to be paid a percentage of the ship's final cost. His payment estimate was based on a higher price tag than the ship ended up having, so he was delivered a smaller payout than he expected.
Everything seems to be worked out now, and Steve Jobs' last project is free to roam the seas.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
