Steve Jobs was once so impressed by his friend Larry Ellison’s private jet that he decided to get one almost identical to the Oracle co-founder’s aircraft, although he could not resist making one small but telling change to its design. The Gulfstream V that Apple awarded Jobs during its dramatic recovery in the late 1990s became an extension of his well-known obsession with detail, with even a single button in the cabin receiving his personal attention. Decades later, the aircraft has changed registered ownership again, adding another chapter to the story of a private jet that links some of Silicon Valley’s most influential figures.
After years associated with Jobs and the man who helped shape its interior, the Gulfstream has entered a new chapter, with its registration changing earlier this year to Trousdale Aviation LLC. The company is linked to investor Phillip Sarofim through Trousdale Ventures, bringing an unexpected connection to an aircraft whose story began at Apple. As per records, May 13, 2026, marks the issue date of the FAA certificate listing Trousdale Aviation as the registered owner, although it does not independently establish when the sale was completed. The change is the latest twist in the journey of a jet that has moved through the orbit of some of Silicon Valley’s most recognizable names.
Steve Jobs’ private jet has changed hands after Jony Ive ownership
After Jobs died in 2011, the aircraft became part of the estate inherited by his widow, Laurene Powell Jobs. Jony Ive, who had worked closely with Jobs on Apple’s most influential products and helped shape the aircraft’s interior, subsequently acquired the Gulfstream from her at a substantial discount. Ive reportedly joked that he would not need to redesign the aircraft, given his familiarity with its original design. By February 2020, LoveFrom Inc., the design company he established after leaving Apple, appeared in historical registration records as the aircraft’s registrant.
The Gulfstream has since passed through several registration identities, including N2N, N586GV, and N51VE, before its latest recorded ownership change. Trousdale Aviation’s connection to Sarofim adds an interesting new dimension, given his involvement in reviving the Meyers Manx dune buggy brand and his investment interests in advanced aerospace and space communications companies. A further registration change to N1112P was authorized a few months back, although not a lot of information is available on it publicly.
The one-button detail that separated Jobs’ jet from Larry Ellison’s
The story of this particular Gulfstream V, serial number 586, began in December 1999, when Apple’s board awarded Jobs the aircraft as a bonus for helping turn around the struggling technology company. Apple announced the gift publicly in January 2000, alongside stock options, while Jobs continued to receive his famously modest annual salary of $1. The company said its market capitalization had risen from less than $2 billion to more than $16 billion during the preceding two and a half years of his leadership. Although the announcement came in 2000, Apple’s filings confirm that the aircraft was transferred to Jobs in 2001.
Jobs’ interest in the aircraft went well beyond owning an expensive way to travel. He had been impressed by the Gulfstream belonging to his friend Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder, and used it as a reference when planning his own jet. Yet Jobs noticed a detail that bothered him, namely the separate buttons used to open and close an interior cabin door, surrounded by polished stainless steel. He wanted a single button that switched between the two functions, with brushed metal replacing the shiny finish, a small change that reportedly frustrated the designer responsible for implementing it. Ellison eventually conceded that Jobs’ modifications were improvements, remarking, “I look at his airplane and mine, and everything he changed was better.” For an aircraft that began as a reward for rescuing Apple, its journey from Jobs to Ive and now Trousdale Aviation is an unusually fitting reminder that even a private jet can carry a story about design, friendship and the people who come after its original owner.
