The fabulous life of Sir Jony Ive, the genius behind Apple’s design

After the late Steve Jobs, no one has had more influence on Apple than Jonathan Ive, the company’s senior vice president of design.

Ive has worked at Apple for 22 years. In that time he has received countless awards and accolades for his ingenuity and commitment to Apple’s minimalist design aesthetic.

He has also become quite famous. The London native is frequently spotted at clubs and lives in California, near Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino.

Ive’s success at Apple has made him a household name and catapulted him into conversations about popular culture.

He has also amassed a fortune.

Jonathan Ive was born on Feb. 27, 1967, in Chingford, a London suburb. His father was a silversmith. Ive recalls letting his imagination go wild in his father’s workshop.

Ive studied industrial design at Newcastle Polytechnic, now called Northumbria University.

Some of Ive’s collegiate drawings have been exhibited at the London Design Museum.

Here’s an early Ive sketch of an electronic pen that could write in different widths and patterns.

His first design for Apple was the Lindy MessagePad. Ive’s favorite part was the flip cover, which foreshadowed the popularity of flip cellphones.

Here’s a younger picture of Ive. He joined Apple in 1992 and became SVP of Design after Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997.

Jobs’ first major assignment for Ive was the iMac, pictured below with Jobs.

These days Ive lives in San Francisco and commutes to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.

In 2012 he bought this 4-bedroom house in Pacific Heights for $17 million. One of his neighbors is Oracle co-founder and former CEO Larry Ellison. That part of Pac Heights is called “Billionaire’s Row,” and for good reason.

Ive has a beach house on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, too.

Ive also has quite the car collection. He once helped his dad restore an Austin-Healey Sprite.

Ive used to own an Aston Martin DB9, but he crashed it near San Bruno, California.

Ive bought a second DB9, but it turned out to be a lemon. So he complained to Aston Martin and they gave him a deal on their Vanquish supercar.

Next Ive bought a Bentley Brooklands.

It has a sumptuous leather and wood interior.

These days Ive is chauffeured around in a Bentley Mulsanne. This year’s model starts at $303,700.

He also owns a Land Rover LR3. He reportedly bought it days after seeing a colleague with one.

After Steve Jobs died, Ive asked CEO Tim Cook for his own Gulfstream jet. Apple’s board rejected the request, so Ive bought Jobs’ former plane.

In May 2012 Ive was knighted in Buckingham Palace by Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth II’s only daughter. Ive said the experience was “absolutely thrilling.”

Ive met the Duchess of Cambridge at the knighting ceremony.

He’s friends with Bono and designer Marc Newson, too. Apple hired Newson last year.

Ive is also close with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. The two sat together at this dinner in 2013.

in 2013 Ive vacationed in Seward, Alaska. Not a bad place to go on holiday, as they say in Europe.

Last year he was spotted at the Chiltern Firehouse, a posh nightclub in London’s West End.

He also gets invited to mingle with the rich and powerful. Ive was invited to this White House State Dinner for UK Prime Minister David Cameron in 2012.

More recently Ive was spotted at Apple headquarters with LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

He’s also rumored to have hung out with Elon Musk at a recent Oscars after party.

His design fame has led him to charity work. Ive designed this Leica, which set the record for a camera sold at auction.

He also designed this Jaeger-LeCoultre watch for an AIDS charity auction.

Now check out some designs by his buddy Marc Newson.

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