Who says i.d. doesn’t pay. 
£18M = $28.9M
30M would be enough to keep a small (10 heads) design company running forever without making a single penny from their work 
If you were Apple, and relied so much on his designs wouldn’t you do the same?
One thing is for sure: If Ive stays at Apple, then not because of money 
May be they feed his narcissism by allowing him to flood the market with his designs, defining new standards in design according to his beliefs and so on. It’s the same reasons why people want to act in front of a camera/audience.
I think he’s being rewarded for time served. He’s a good designer and probably a better manager, but I know you could find someone else for $120k-140k a year.
It’s important to note that Ive has worked for Apple since 1992. That means he was working on the products that nearly bankrupt the company as well as the ones that have saved it.
Sure he makes well more than $120k-140k. Probably multiples of that.
R
Ive does make millions, that’s well known. I’m saying I don’t think it is worth it. He is basically a manager of a studio with 20-30 designers, right? How much would that win you elsewhere?
Based on what I know from similar large organizations -
He’s more than a Design Manager, Director level at the minimum. but even so at that level of experience and size of team, I would guess $180+
I dunno his actual title, but it’s more like VP Design. At that level I’d guess $260+
Probably even more.
Generally progression is something like:
Design Manager (dept.)
Design Director (dept.)
Global Design Director
VP Design
CDO
he’s actually probably a CDO of some sort.
R
According to the SEC he doesn’t hold an executive title, officially. But Al Gore does…
He does not hold an executive title because if he did they would have to publish his salary. Smart.
914, I need to go against you here. Ive is worth it. There is everything he does for the company, the team, and the products, and there is a lot of value in him not doing that for a competitor. Not to mention I’m sure a lot of constant stress and pressure. I wouldn’t consider that role for less than 300k and I’m sure that is well under what he currently makes. don’t forget to adjust your concept of salary for the bay area where a small house costs $600,000… and if you are in SF proper, that is a one bedroom apartment.
Put it another way. he can open his own design consultancy and bill well over $1M easy. Plus makes more from less taxes with some smart accounting 
R
Along those lines, this article was in Fast Co last month. Interesting stuff…
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/153/engineers-to-the-valley-pay-up.html
Richard: I forgot that he was a director position. True, that adds a few digits right there.
Yo: True. I was comparing him to people I know that live in square states. Add a few digits there.
As for him doing the same for another company…I really doubt any other company has the structure to allow this kind of creativity to flourish, regardless of the employees. I think Apple is a case of the whole being far greater than the sum of its parts, something that will be tested when Ive and Jobs leave.
I know of one urban myth where Jonny wadded up his Aston Martin on Hwy 280, walked away, and didn’t complain too much about it. I also heard all of the core ID staff at Apple are in the $250K range, so Ive is going to be well above that. That core staff is a small number (10-15) of people. Who nobody has ever heard of.
Nah, blame that on the jackasses running the company at the time, Scully, Spindler, Amelio… Your hands are tied when there is no vision at the top and the CEO is running the company into the ground.
Interesting, Ive said no to Apple twice before he took the job.
He’s also a bit of a spokesperson for Apple as well. For a while when you go onto their site you saw his face and you could play a little video with him talking about the design. How much is it worth to Apple to keep his credibility around so people know they are still at the top of the game. I wonder what kind of non-compete he has in his contract. Can you imagine him leaving and going to Sony or Samsung. Then again, maybe apple could get will.i.am or lady gaga for slightly cheaper.
/
Always loved that RSA bit. I agree, that is why I left the security of my corporate job that had a clear path set for my career. The ability to affect larger scale things and take larger risks appealed. But they might not be tryig to motivate him, they might be merely trying to prevent him from leaving… And a bag of money that big is pretty tempting! Again conjecture… Whether useless or not, I’ll let you judge. Still fun though. It’s either that or watch the Charlie Sheen interview again!
More importantly, all those RSA animations pretty much rule.
Oh, I whole heartedly agree, but perception is reality and it doesn’t mean that another manufacturer wouldn’t try to steal him away or that if he started how own gig that every mobil and pc maker wouldn’t hire him… And that might tarnish the apple a bit, Salesian with Steve’s health. Let him go might hurt th stock price too much.
For some reason, I really like that idea. Look at Schreyer and Kia. I have no idea how much a figurehead like Ives does (or Shreyer), however the “changing of the guard” there has really moved Kia into new territory in design (and has helped the rest of their products go into its new limelight".
I’m curious to see how many of you account the ipod’s success down to its design and UX, opposed to their marketing and bringing ‘technical innovation’ to the consumer. I guess it opens up a whole new can of worms to look into why the ipod is so successful