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Isn't this kind of the point? The NZ governments goal was to increase private investment, not make a return. They succeeded -- Thiel put $6.8m to work in NZ tha
by ag56 10y ago
Isn't this kind of the point? The NZ governments goal was to increase private investment, not make a return. They succeeded -- Thiel put $6.8m to work in NZ that he may not have otherwise.
Many countries do this. For example in the UK the British Business Bank will become an LP in a VC fund acting as a multiplier on capital raised.
You may not agree with the government's decision, but you can hardly blame Thiel for making use of it.
- kiwidrew 10y agoThiel put the vast majority of this money towards buying Xero shares on the public sharemarket. Hard to call that a bold investment strategy. As if that wasn't low-risk enough, he then managed to buy these shares on 50% margin (that's the NZVIF portion) and double his potential profit AT NO ADDITIONAL RISK.
- boznz 10y agoAgree, Nobody likes to see their government whoring out citizenship's (there's no other word for it!) but if they do they they should be be honest and sell the passport for cold hard cash to use in infrastructure or social projects, NOT for investing in real estate (which fucks up the local market) nor stock market investments where there is more chance of actually gaining money in the deal.