Apple loses $10bn as iPhone designer Sir Jony Ive steps down
The British designer behind the iPhone, iPod and iMac is set to leave Apple after nearly three decades, wiping roughly $10bn (£7.9bn) off the company’s value.
Chief design officer Sir Jony Ive, who played a key role in turning Apple into the world’s most valuable company, will step down later this year to start an independent design company.
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“After nearly 30 years and countless projects, I am most proud of the lasting work we have done to create a design team, process and culture at Apple that is without peer,” he said.
Ive’s new venture, Lovefrom, is based in California and will launch fully next year, the Financial Times reported.
Apple colleague Marc Newson, an industrial designer and longstanding friend of Ive, is also set to join the new firm, according to the report.
But the design chief will stay close to his old firm, with Apple set to be one of Lovefrom’s primary clients.
“Jony is a singular figure in the design world and his role in Apple’s revival cannot be overstated,” said Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
“Apple will continue to benefit from Jony’s talents by working directly with him on exclusive projects, and through the ongoing work of the brilliant and passionate design team he has built.”
Apple has not yet named a successor to Ive, but said top design bosses Evans Hankey and Alan Dye will report to chief operating officer Williams.
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“The markets have reacted to Ive leaving because it is now recognised that design-led businesses are the fastest growing businesses in the world,” said Vicky Bullen, chief executive at brand design agency Coley Porter Bell. “Taking Ive out of Apple is, of course, a threat to the success.”
Ive grew up in Chingford in north east London and founded his own design company, before being poached by Apple in 1992.