Venus, the 80-meter yacht crafted for the late Steve Jobs by famous French designer Philippe Starck, is stuck in a Dutch harbor because of a dispute over payment. Jobs commissioned the yacht before his death in 2011, but it was first unveiled in late October of 2012. Now, according to Dutch newspaper Financieele Dagblad and other sources, Starck claims that the Jobs family underpaid him for his work. Starck alleges that he should have received about 9 million euros ($11.8 million) for his work, but instead he was given only 6 million ($7.9 million). Now, the yacht will remain stationary until the matter is settled.
Steve Jobs’ yacht impounded after designer Philippe Starck complains he was underpaid
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
As The Wall Street Journal points out, very little money is at stake here by Jobsian standards, and the family hasn’t responded to requests for comments. In an apparent translation from FD, Dutch News says the yacht didn’t cost as much as expected to build, reporting that the Jobs family rounded down Starck’s payment proportionate to the total cost. The dispute isn’t expected to last long, though: the Associated Press reported this morning that it could take as little as a day to settle, probably through an out-of-court payment.
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