Apple rises even as report indicates it has ended consulting agreement with Jony Ive
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares rose on Wednesday even after The New York Times reported the tech giant had ended its consulting agreement with former design leader and Steve Jobs confidant, Jony Ive.




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Citing two people with knowledge of the agreement, Ive and Apple (AAPL) have agreed to stop working together, putting an end to a three decade run for Ive. Ive, whose work at Apple (AAPL) resulted in him being knighted for his design work and patents, signed a deal in 2019 to start his own design firm LoveFrom, with Apple (AAPL) as its primary client.
According to the Times, LoveFrom and Apple (AAPL) signed a multi-year deal that valued Ive at more than $100M.
Ive has been at least partially responsible for the design of every Apple (AAPL) product going back to the Newton, released in 1993. He has also reportedly had a hand in designing the augmented reality headset that is expected to ship next year, The Times added, citing the people.
Apple (AAPL) shares were up slightly less than 0.5% to $146.19 in premarket trading.
The deal between the two parties appears to have ended after some Apple (AAPL) executives questioned how much the company was paying Ive, some of its designers left to join the London-born Ive and the 55-year-old Ive wanted the freedom to take on other clients and not need Apple's (AAPL) permission.
In 2020, Ive agreed to start working with Airbnb (ABNB) to design its next generation of products and services. He will continue to work with Airbnb (ABNB) and another LoveFrom client, Ferrari (RACE), the news outlet added.
The Times reported that Apple's (AAPL) Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams will continue to oversee the design teams. In addition, Evans Hankey will remain atop industrial design while Alan Dye will continue to lead software design. 
Greg Joswiak, Apple's (AAPL) senior vice president of marketing, will have a central role in product choices.
On Tuesday, Bank of America said the fact that Apple (AAPL) had lowered the trade-in prices for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac earlier this month implies "strong demand."