It is well known that Steve Jobs continued working until his last days, despite being retired from public life and even from his role as CEO at Apple. One of the issues he was trying to resolve was key to the future of the brand: how to integrate television into the business ecosystem. This is something that, judging by the latest financial results, with one billion subscribers to digital services, has been achieved by far. At least in the software department. But there was another project, more personal and intimate, that he managed to complete: his yacht.
As documented by those close to him and files found in his office, Steve Jobs’ superyacht was his last great achievement, his last great project. Unfortunately, Although he was able to see the final stage of its construction, he was never able to enjoy it.. This was the engineering prodigy called Venus, like the goddess of love, beauty and fertility in Roman mythology, the equivalent of the Greek Aphrodite.
We tell you all about this luxury boat, which is also full of anecdotes. Not in vain, just a few weeks ago, the Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas collided with this yacht while he was sailing in Naples, Italy.
A luxury yacht, Steve Jobs’ latest creation
Venus was one of Jobs’ last wishes. Not surprisingly, his widow Laurene Powell inherited it as part of his fortune. Steve Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson wrote these words about the yacht’s condition:
“I know that I may die and leave Laurene this half-built boat. But I have to move on“If I don’t do it, it means I’m admitting that I’m about to die.”
And, like all of Jobs’ works, he would not settle for mediocre work. Venus is a luxury yacht. A superyacht or megayacht, depending on how you look at it, since it is 80 metres long (78.2 metres, to be precise) and has a capacity for 12 passengers, which would add up to twenty-two people in total if we count the professionals responsible for its piloting and maintenance.
Clad in aluminum and with large glass panels, including mirrors on its bow, Steve Jobs wanted a wheelhouse to match the Apple stores. Not in vain There are seven 27-inch Macs in this room.
However, its construction was not easy: after more than six years in the Koninklijke De Vries shipyards, run by the prestigious Dutch shipyard Feadship, Costs soared to more than 90 million euros and the handover of keys was delayed. Maintaining it is not cheap either: annual operating costs are around 10 million euros.
But its design is prodigious: long and thin, with a 11.8-metre main beam and a low superstructure made entirely of glassIt is rare to see a yacht with an axe-shaped bow and a flat, straight stern. At its heart are two MTU engines capable of delivering a top speed of 20.5 knots and a cruising speed of 18 knots.
The person responsible for this design was the Parisian Felipe Starck, who collected the ideas and designs of Jobs himself and began to work on it. As he documented in a Interview for Vanity FairThe call from “A Mr. Jobs wants to talk to you” was brief but especially fruitful. Steve asked “Do you want to build me a boat?” and Starck replied “Sure.” That agreement guaranteed him 9 million dollars for the project, although Steve Jobs kept this expense private.
The current life of Venus
Venus was launched in late October 2011, just weeks after Steve Jobs’ death. He was able to see photos and videos of the process, but he never walked around the deck. And despite having a market value of 120 million, it has never been for sale. In fact, the yacht is currently under the guardianship of Laurene Powell, Jobs’ widow.
In 2015 it was renovated for an undisclosed amount. and during the summer of 2019 it set out to sea. It is easy to spot it in the Mediterranean: during the summer of 2023 it spent a month in Mallorca and another week near several Valencian ports. It is also a regular destination for fans of the brand, a portable mecca for those who can afford it. However, they do not always grant permission to visit its deck: for three months a year it is usually completely closed.
An older version of this article was originally published on 10/08/2023.