According to the AFP, Steve Jobs’ estate has paid back a deposit to French designer Philipe Starck, who had the superyatcht impounded after money owed to him was not received:
“The Venus is no longer impounded, we have found a solution,” Gerard Moussault, a Hague-based lawyer for the Jobs estate, told AFP on Monday.
“A security deposit was paid into a bank account, but I cannot say for how much,” Moussault said after French designer Starck last week asked Amsterdam bailiffs to seize the sleek 70-metre yacht.
The vessel, which reportedly cost over 100 million euros ($127 million) to build, was impounded after Starck said Jobs’ estate still owed him three million euros for his contribution to its design.
The controversy was over Starck’s claim he was to be a fixed sum of $9 million euros, while the Jobs’ estate noted he was to be paid a percentage of the project’s cost, which worked out to $6 million euros. The difference resulted in Starck having the yacht impounded by authorities.
Last week it was reported the yacht was seized by bailiffs in Amsterdam. The finished design was first revealed back in late October, built by shipbuilder Koninklijke De Vries in the Netherlands. Starck confirmed he was working on the yacht for the Jobs family back in April. The yacht is expected to be shipped by another ship back to the United States, where Jobs’ wife and children will take hold of the boat.
