Don’t expect to bump into Apple’s design guru on your next coach flight. When Jony Ive hits the skies he flies private.
In fact, according to an Apple profile by Business Week, Sir Jony Ive cuts through clouds in the very same Gulfstream jet owned by Steve Jobs during his last years at Apple.
Jony reportedly purchased the 22-seat private plane from Laurene Powell Jobs and got it at super cheap discount. Ive actually helped Steve decorate the interior of the plane and joked to a friend that “At least I don’t have to redesign anything.”
Regarding the Apple Watch, Jony Ive told Business Week, “it’s probably one of the most difficult projects I have ever worked on.” Some former Apple executives think he could be looking to leave in the future, but the hiring of famed designer and friend, Marc Newson, probably indicates he’s ready to stay put in the Design Lab for now.
Aircraft registration documents for the dual-engine plane show that it was bought by a Bank of Utah trustee on November 25th, 2011 shortly after Steve’s death, and was still owned by the same trustee on March 28th 2014, when the serial number was changed.
Jobs had the FAA officially block public tracking of his jet’s flight, but his Gulfstream 5 has a distinctive tail number – N2N – that made it easy for plane geeks and navigation buffs to track his movements over the Internet. Jony kept the live tracking block in place, but next time you see a Gulfstream Aerospace G-V at cruising altitude or taxiing on a runway near you, you’ll know the genius behind Apple’s products is inside.
Here’s a video of Steve’s-now-Jony’s jet taking off at San Jose International.
Source: Business Week
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
6 responses to “Jony Ive now owns Steve Jobs’ private jet”
“There’s no learning without trying lots of ideas and failing lots of times. Except when it comes to my personal jet, this fucker better work right every time.”
— Jony Ive
I hope it has ugly stripes on it and his window sticks inward to his seat.
http://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N2N says it is/was owned by a bank
Thanks. looks like it’s 22 seats too. Updated the article with that info
Flightaware indicates it’s a newer plane with the same tail numbers only. Sorry.
The aircraft shown is a G-V (Gulfstream 550; airframe number 586). The N2N registration has been transferred to a larger G-VI (650; airframe number 6053) with the same livery. The first N2N (airframe 586) will now have a different registration number. As of today, databases do not show what the new registration number is.