Mashable has a report today about the possibility of Apple’s vitally important senior vice president of industrial design, Jonathan Ive, possibly leaving the company. This follows on from a report in The Times of London today (behind a pay wall), which said that Ive has an option grant worth $30 million, which if he sold would make him worth $128 million. The news story, which we have no way of knowing the veracity of until it's confirmed by an official source, said that Ive, who is British, has been arguing with Apple about how much time he spends in the UK. Apparently Ive also wants his two children to go to school in the UK. As Ive is a vital part of Apple’s design team, Apple has allegedly said it is not happy with him moving back to the UK, and that if he did, he might not work at Apple for much longer. The reason this might be a big news story if it proves to be true is because Ive is head of the industrial design team behind the iPod, iPhone, the current iPad and the forthcoming iPad 2, not to mention all MacBooks and the iMac. The Times actually managed to get a quote from an Apple spokesperson on the matter, who said that any talk of Ive moving back to the UK is “speculationâ€. Not exactly a flat-out denial is it though?!
Source:Mashable Is Apple Design Guru Jony Ive Quitting?
