Jonathan Ive: How Did a British Polytechnic Graduate Become Apple’s Design Genius?

It is hard to know what is the greater intrigue: recent conjecture that Ive is preparing to walk away from Apple to relocate to his beautiful Grade II-listed mansion in Somerset so his children can be educated in the UK (false—he is not, and the property is now standing empty); that he will step out of the shadows and assume Steve Jobs’ role when the great man stands down (highly doubtful); or what—or perhaps more accurately who—propelled him to leave for the U.S. in the first place and deny Britain the talents of one of the most influential designers of the modern age.