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Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus
- CoolGuySteve 6y ago"It's a big club and you ain't in it." - George Carlin
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- dilyevsky 6y agoVarious citizenships to complement various houses
- im3w1l 6y ago> it has become mired in so many scandals that the Cypriot government announced last month that it was to be shut down. Guess it's FOMO-driven rather than election driven then.
- cblconfederate 6y agonope the shutdown was unexpected, it came after the al-jazeera reports
- hn_throwaway_99 6y agoI don't blame him for taking advantage of the system. What I blame him for is all of his supposed altruistic bloviating. No different than a Russian oligarch.
- cblconfederate 6y agoWhy do people think this is a "bad thing"? It's no different than buying an expensive home anywhere in the world, except it comes with a citizenship. I doubt he can use the favorable taxation - he would have to renounce his US citizenship for that.
- gameswithgo 6y agoSome people might see the ultra wealthy in the USA of late as having taken part in destroying the country and also preparing to leave it, which they can do thanks to their wealth. Pete Thiel and his New Zealand plans are another more explicit example.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 6y agoDyson leaving the U.K. was another specific and obvious example of this.
- TopInvestor 6y agoSome people might see he knows who won the reelection.
- magicnubs 6y agoGabe Newell just applied for NZ citizenship as well
- JAlexoid 6y agoWell.... I'd go to NZ as well, given the chance. In the upcoming world war, NZ will just be forgotten. It's even missing from many maps ;)
- EdwinLarkin 6y agoHow different is this from oligarchs using private jets to escape lockdowns?
- cblconfederate 6y agoTrue, however right now US people can't travel to cyprus due to restrictions. Plus i m not sure why he would want to travel to europe since everything is locked down atm Plus he probably has a private jet
- ashtonkem 6y agoPeople escaping lock downs in jets and boats are annoying, but at least understandable. Given the opportunity to escape to somewhere physically safer, I’d probably do the same thing. Expatriating your massive wealth to avoid paying taxes makes it feel like they’re performing a smash and grab job on the whole country. Doubly so because the people doing this would still be fantastically wealthy if they stayed and paid their taxes; they’re just doing it to be even richer still.
- pinewurst 6y agoThanks for writing that - he's such a supreme hypocrite, but why expect more from the originator of, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." So many of his own peccadilloes are out there too, despite his personal attempts to delete them from Google.
- an_opabinia 6y agoSome randos on the Internet aren’t going to know why he ultimately gets #MeToo’d. However it should be obvious that every potential acquirer of Android was aware of enabling Andy Rubin to enter “ownership” relationships with his subordinates, at a time it was obvious to every huge tech CEO they had to develop an iPhone competitor. It remains to be explained why Google alone decided to enable him, and what role Eric Schmidt played in that. Like quite concretely, when he looks at the private investigator’s report about Andy Rubin, and everyone else’s people doing the same thing at all the other companies saying “don’t do this deal,” despite the money on the line, why did he say yes? I would add that of course all the major tech companies were aware of the iPhone before it was released, in addition to being aware of Andy Rubin’s ownership relationships of subordinates, and also Eric Schmidt sat on Apple’s board and was aware, and it was of course instrumental to Android’s acquisition.
- pinewurst 6y agoAlso don't forget his _strong_ partnership/culpability with Steve Jobs on their wage-fixing crime.
- esarbe 6y agoHuh, why not? If not for people taking advantage of "the system", "the system" would not exist. I mean; here we have a guy that has taken all the advantage of all the benefits a developed industrial country has to offer and then in turn does everything in his power to give back as little as possible. Hell yeah I'm going to blame him. It's not moral behavior. I don't care whether it is legal or not, he's behaving like a parasite and should be judged according to his behavior.
- magicalist 6y ago> It's not moral behavior. Getting a second citizenship?
- zeruch 6y agoThe act is not in question...its the motives that are.
- ericd 6y agoIt's not necessarily about taxes, the marginal utility of money is basically 0 at his level. I'm guessing he just wants a guarantee of being able to get into the EU in case the political polarization in the US boils over. I certainly would, if I were him, especially given the steady drumbeat of demonization of the rich in the media.
- FDSGSG 6y agoLess hassle with visas? If you want to avoid taxation there are better places to go than Cyprus. People go to Cyprus specifically because they want a Schengen passport.
- kyriakos 6y agoCyprus is not a member of Schengen but as an EU citizen you can still go anywhere in Europe visa free, stay, work and enjoy all benefits as long as you want.
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- bpodgursky 6y agoUnless/until he gives up US citizenship (and leaves the US), this makes no difference in tax law. US citizens are taxed internationally.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- secretasiandan 6y agoHonest question: what is the difference between taking advantage of the system and taking advantage of the people that comprise the system?
- cblconfederate 6y agoI wouldn't be surprised if it's not his second passport
- slg 6y agoI literally just read an article 10 minutes ago saying he is expected to lead a tech industry taskforce for the Biden administration. Not a good look to be taking on a more involved role in US governance the exact same moment you're applying for citizenship of a different country.
- ocdtrekkie 6y agoLike, I really wish there was some way we could tell Biden like "yo, we voted you in, but please don't let Eric Schmidt in with you".
- aaronbrethorst 6y agoOppo dumps are a highly effective way to blow up someone's appointment in a new administration.
- slg 6y agoHe is up for the head of a taskforce and not a cabinet position. That means this is neither a particularly powerful position or one that will require any congressional or other approval. I doubt there is any real political motivation to leak this info. If this was leaked nefariously, my money would be on the motivation being personal.
- aaronbrethorst 6y agoIf this was leaked nefariously, my money would be on the motivation being personal. Yep, me too. If there is any truth to some of the gossip out there about his personal life, that would explain both the source and motivation for blowing this up for him.
- Rebelgecko 6y agoWhat was the source? An ex?
- markdown 6y ago
- CalChris 6y agoCyprus is the easiest (if expensive) way to get an EU passport which is useful for travel. I don't read much past that. He already has an army of lawyers and accountants to deal with his taxes. https://www.goldenvisas.com/cyprus https://www.goldenvisas.com/cyprus
- DSingularity 6y agoWhy do you think Eric has problems traveling?
- bduerst 6y agoAmericans are currently blocked from travel to many countries, European included, due to the bungling of their Covid 19 response.
- nostromo 6y agoFor what it's worth, the US is outperforming several EU member states with fewer deaths per population.
- cactus2093 6y agoThe US is a big place, more akin to the entire EU than any one European country. Certain regions and states in the US have handled Covid much better than certain regions and states in the EU, and vice versa. But on aggregate, Europe and the US have both massively bungled their Covid responses.
- ajay-b 6y agoThe article does not mention why, but considering that cypress has an extradition treaty with the States of America, It’s likely for tax reasons as all rich people do
- hankchinaski 6y agohe would have to renounce his US passport/citizenship tho
- TechBro8615 6y agoNo he wouldn’t. Cyprus allows dual citizenship. Edit: Oh, I see, you’re responding to GP about tax advantages. Yes, as a US citizen he will still owe US tax on worldwide income. Doesn’t mean there aren’t a bunch of loopholes around unrealized gains though.
- fraoulitsa 6y agoI look forward to meet him at our cypriot beaches ;) it would be interesting to see how and if, this drives more prestige figures in our island, and how will affect the economy...
- mensetmanusman 6y agoOptics aren’t great when a well-known democratic donor who may be a part of the new administration is simultaneously evading the taxes that the administration might adjust.
- andymoe 6y agoThis should, at minimum, disqualify him for any kind of cabinet position there are rumors of him getting.
- cblconfederate 6y agohe seems like a bill-gates kind of philanthropist, did he say he has politics ambition?
- lumberjack 6y agoI cannot stand this manufactured outcry over a nothing burger. The EU wanted to make a big deal out of selling citizenship. Like how DARE Cyprus sell citizenship that comes with EU membership! No, rich people should sign up for an """investment""" VISA from the Netherlands instead! That's how they should be let in. The Netherlands is an honorable upstanding country that most definitely would NEVER allow questionable people to get into the EU, definitely no mafia clans or terrorists, not like that place is a hub for narcotics and weapons trafficking. But Cyprus, bunch of brown quasi-orientals selling EU membership! How DARE they!
- chki 6y agoA visa is in fact very different from citizenship in many ways. For example but not limited to: judicial protection, extradition privileges, voting rights, travel rights in other member states, social security, diplomatic protection in other countries, ...
- areoform 6y agoIf this is indeed for a tax dodge, what's funny is that the US Government helped fund Google. Or, more accurately, they funded the research into the seemingly esoteric problem that became Google; > In 1995, one of the first and most promising MDDS grants went to a computer-science research team at Stanford University with a decade-long history of working with NSF and DARPA grants. The primary objective of this grant was “query optimization of very complex queries that are described using the ‘query flocks’ approach.” A second grant—the DARPA-NSF grant most closely associated with Google’s origin—was part of a coordinated effort to build a massive digital library using the internet as its backbone. Both grants funded research by two graduate students who were making rapid advances in web-page ranking, as well as tracking (and making sense of) user queries: future Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. > The research by Brin and Page under these grants became the heart of Google: people using search functions to find precisely what they wanted inside a very large data set. The intelligence community, however, saw a slightly different benefit in their research: Could the network be organized so efficiently that individual users could be uniquely identified and tracked? Not to mention In-Q-Tel's investment into one of their key products, Google Maps via Keyhole. And DARPA's Grand Challenge that led to the Stanley car that was acquired and scaled up to make Google's automated car division. Google has done an admirable job of taking Government sponsored R&D and maturing it into products. They deserve their success. But, in my opinion, the systemic lack of reinvestment into the pipeline that created them and their most successful products is equivalent to sawing off the branch that they're sitting on. The US Govt couldn't have invented the iPhone or Google's search engine, but they did fund the first Integrated Circuits, the first IC-based computer, the internet, GPS, discrete problems in computer science involving searching large amounts of data, display technologies, battery technologies, MEMS sensors etc etc.
- bsanr2 6y agoI went to the same high school as Sergey Brin, a little over a decade after he had and well after Google had become the de facto search standard. Didn't know until I was already in college. AFAIK he's never made an effort to reach out to them, grant resources, give a talk, anything. It's a majority-minority public school in a solidly middle class (like, actually middle class) suburb, so it's not like they're flush with funding. Whatever his relationship to it had been at the time, you'd think he'd find it within himself to give back a tiny bit from the exceptional fortune and life that he's built. The reality, though, was that a lot of us didn't even know who he was, even though all of the school computers had their homepages set to Google.com. I think that's emblematic of Google's regard to reinvestment. Even the products which made them so powerful in the first place they regularly abandon.
- yuskii 6y agoYeah, I can see how the desire to pour over extra 00's on your bank statement would warrant a move out of the US. That being said, it makes no sense to sit on that money unless he plans to use to benefit the people of Cyprus Edit: As others have pointed out...for someone with such legal resources at their disposal, why the need for citizenship when he could simply apply for an investors visa at a much lower cost?
- temp667 6y agoTHis is interesting - is this an Trump opposition dump on Biden? Pretty good timing if so :) And for all the folks going on about taxes. 1) Rich people can already avoid taxes by investing overseas and not generating realized gains so funds stay untaxed overseas. I don't think being a citizen of EU would change that much. 2) US citizens are taxed regardless of second citizenships as US citizens. "If you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien, the rules for filing income, estate, and gift tax returns and paying estimated tax are generally the same whether you are in the United States or abroad. Your worldwide income is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where you reside." https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-citizens-and-resident-aliens-abroad https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-c...
- arsenico 6y agoExactly. I don’t think those who comment understand that IRS will tax Schmidt anyways, and he also is already avoiding taxes as much as he can.
- temp667 6y agoFor folks with a family office the question is not too complicated. Someone says, would it be beneficial to have another passport (EU). The answer is yes (sometimes also intended to benefit kids by giving them lots of options in terms of schools etc). Then someone else does all the paperwork. You need to buy property worth $400K? That is not even an expense. This is not a "high cost" approach.
- g42gregory 6y agoIn light of this development, is Eric Schmidt someone we would trust with high-level access to the US Department of Defense?
- raspberry_pi 6y agoI'd hope people were leery of rich people entering government long before this news.
- cblconfederate 6y agoi mean he can legally spy on europe, what's not to love
- hcnews 6y agoThis is most likely to account for the rumored 40% CGT that has been mentioned few times by Biden in Debates.
- K33P4D 6y agoEric Shmidt: "I seen sum things in the pentagon man "
- Teknoman117 6y agoCan he even get a second citizenship? As far as I was aware (as a US citizen myself), the US doesn't allow you become a citizen of another country without renouncing your US citizenship except in the very specific dual-citizenship scenarios regarding birth or familial ties. I know under the Obama administration the federal government had turned a blind eye to people not renouncing a prior citizenship when becoming a naturalized US citizen, but I'm curious about the reverse. They were not too kind to Eduardo Saverin. (The Facebook cofounder who had to fight zuckerberg over diluted shares, when the case was resolved in his favor he took the money and ran to Singapore and renounced his US citizenship).
- avgDev 6y agoI have a dual citizenship. From .gov site: "U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one nationality or another. A U.S. citizen may naturalize in a foreign state without any risk to his or her U.S. citizenship. However, persons who acquire a foreign nationality after age 18 by applying for it may relinquish their U.S. nationality if they wish to do so. In order to relinquish U.S. nationality by virtue of naturalization as a citizen of a foreign state, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign nationality voluntarily and with the intention to relinquish U.S. nationality. Intent may be shown by the person’s statements and conduct." Link to source:https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/Advice-about-Possible-Loss-of-US-Nationality-Dual-Nationality/Dual-Nationality.html#:~:text=U.S.%20law%20does%20not%20mention,his%20or%20her%20U.S.%20citizenship.&text=They%20are%20required%20to%20obey,right%20to%20enforce%20its%20laws https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-lega....
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- chmod600 6y agoThe Fourteenth Amendment: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States..." It's hard for federal law to get around that. I guess common law would allow someone to opt out...
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- socrates1998 6y agoWould be nice to be able to do whatever the hell you want, whenever you want. Billionaires play by their own rules, the rest of us plebs need to stay in our place.
- cblconfederate 6y agoit really doesnt cost that much to buy a second visa for someone who works in SV.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- vram22 6y agoI thought I read, not too long ago, that he was kind of hell-bent on getting either the military or US govt. or NY state or some such, to be guided by him on adopting high tech for "their" benefit? Was I right, and if so, what happened about that? Fizzled out? Almost sure I read something to that effect, either in a TechCrunch kind of site or some online newspaper like NY Times. Likely not more than some months ago. Then why the sudden Cyprus thing? Edit: Did the obvious, googled - for "eric schmidt advise us military on tech". First 3 hits indicate I was right. Hit 1: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/technology/eric-schmidt-pentagon-google.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/technology/eric-schmidt-p... Other 2 hits are Business Insider and The Verge.
- digianarchist 6y agoCyprus is under investigation by the EU, along with Malta for “selling” citizenships.
- enriquto 6y agoI do not understand why selling citizenships is wrong. If both the seller and the buyer agree to a price, what's the problem?
- chrisjc 6y agoWhether right or wrong, if the community that you are apart of is affected, then there are implications... some of which can become problems.
- enriquto 6y agoI don't see what kind of problems could arise from this. From the point of view of the country the number of citizens remains constant. Only the name and the facial features of the passport-holder have changed. There may of course be a fee for updating the passport, besides the price of the interchange.
- mmmmmbop 6y agoIt's not that a citizen sells their citizenship to a non-citizen and therefore becomes a non-citizen. It's the country selling citizenships, meaning each sale results in one more citizen.
- Nasrudith 6y agoAnything done to the community affects it in some way - that criticism could be applied to sending a fruit basket to every Cypriot. Someone could get sick by eating fruit from it after it went bad.
- chrisjc 6y ago
- drummer 6y agoWhen Mars is ready in a few years, many will buy a one way ticket to escape from governments, tax collectors and other similar criminal organizations on earth. The only question will be, for how long will you be safe?
- sgt 6y agoYes, this is the question we really should be asking right now.
- dig1 6y agoI'd recommend watching The Cyprus Papers [1], done by Al Jazeera Investigations, mentioned in the article. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj18cya_gvw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj18cya_gvw
- justinzollars 6y agoCapital can easily move. Good for Eric Schmidt.
- vmception 6y ago"If you like US then leave!" leaves [Surprised Pikachu Face]
- vmception 6y agodon't* like
- znpy 6y agoPeople keep talking about the taxation aspect of the thing. Iirc, Schmidt has recently picked up some consulting for the us government? I wonder if he just had some other "inside intelligence" from that and is setting up something like a plan b.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- aokiji 6y agoEric Schmidt's move may be a signal of what is to come in the next months. The Electoral College counts have not finished and rampant fraud is being found everywhere.
- jeffrallen 6y agoChrist, what an asshole.
- rexarex 6y agoThis isn't new, all countries usually allow you to buy your way in using a "Golden Visa" program, including the USA and Canada. Typically it costs about $1 Million and some job creation/investment in the economy. Canadian Golden Visa Program AKA Quebec Immigrant Investment Program: https://citizenshipshop.com/product/canada-golden-visa/ https://citizenshipshop.com/product/canada-golden-visa/ AKA USA EB-5 Golden Visa: https://citizenshipshop.com/product/usa-golden-visa/ https://citizenshipshop.com/product/usa-golden-visa/
- cblconfederate 6y agogolden visa vs golden citizenship. the citizenship package is more expensive (thanks for the link , interesting that a residence visa in canada costs only 250K)
- djanogo 6y agoSeems like US issues about 10k visa's yearly[1]. [1] https://www.eb5daily.com/2020/02/latest-statistics-eb-5-immigrant-visas-issued-by-country-for-fy-2019/ https://www.eb5daily.com/2020/02/latest-statistics-eb-5-immi...
- quantified 6y agoThis will feed the narrative of SV barons being unpatriotic globalists. He gets rich off the system as we run up massive deficits on his behalf and then sets up to flee. From his own perspective it’s rational, for everyone else it’s just a diss.
- mFixman 6y agoI don't understand why he does this. The IRS will tax him regardless of whether he has assets in the US or outside of it, and he's rich enough to get a working visa to anywhere. Does anyone know of any other possible tax advantage a rich American might get from Cypriot citizenship?
- cblconfederate 6y agomalta cyprus, ireland etc are useful for setting up business there . you can set up a local business that receives royalties from other companies and benefit from relatively low tax. He s probably not doing it for taxes, but for a convenient EU passport and a humble abode in the mediterranean
- mFixman 6y agoCan't you set up an offshore business in a tax heaven without being a citizen?
- cblconfederate 6y agosure. i guess being american means you d have to report dividends back to the IRS.
- mFixman 6y agoBut Schmidt is not renouncing his citizenship, so he'll still have to report dividends back to the IRS despite also being a Cyprot citizen.
- Splendor 6y agoIt's not just about taxes. People with EU passports have fewer travel restrictions than those with US passports right now. As was discussed in the article.
- mike_d 6y agoI know at least a dozen people who were actively working on getting a second passport to flee the US pending results of the election.
- princekolt 6y agoI bet this is not tax dodging, he just likes halloumi a lot!
- gumby 6y agoWhy are people assuming this is a tax issue? It's just most people find it nicer to live in the EU, even billionaires, and especially if you don't need to worry about work.
- Splendor 6y agoIf that were the case, then why wouldn't he try to obtain citizenship in the country he's moving to? Why Cyprus?
- beagle3 6y agoCyprus is the fastest route (6 months). Most other EU countries take years and require you to reside there continuously throughout those years.
- gumby 6y agowhy a Cypriot passport he can live in France or Germany or Italy or any other EU state. But Cyprus provides passports quickly. Malta and Portugal are also quite good in this regard.
- heldrida 6y agoWhat makes you think Portugal has this sort of dodgy business like Cyprus and Malta? Mind share some evidence of your claims, please?
- gumby 6y agoFeeling sensitive? Portugal's program is widely discussed. By an apartment and spend seven days a year in Portugal (which is a very nice place to spend time!) Here are the first two links on DDG: https://www.second-citizenship.org/permanent-residence/portuguese-eu-residency-program/ https://www.second-citizenship.org/permanent-residence/portu... https://www.escapeartist.com/blog/get-residency-second-passport-portugal https://www.escapeartist.com/blog/get-residency-second-passp...
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- wil421 6y ago> The way the program works is that once a foreigner lays down between $2 million and $3 million worth of investment in Cyprus, typically through a real estate purchase, they can apply to what is technically called the “Citizenship by Investment” program. After the government reviews the applicant’s background, conducts a security check, and hosts a visit from the foreigner, their application can be approved. For anyone wanting to know how much it could cost.
- stjohnswarts 6y agoGood for him. I don't see a problem with it.
- elec3647 6y agoNot a tax dodge. He’s fleeing the impending purge during the second American civil war.
- amai 6y agoToo late: "Cyprus is no longer a tax haven for Russia’s oligarchs" https://infobrics.org/post/31529/ https://infobrics.org/post/31529/ "The reason these politically connected people look towards Cyprus, and by extension, the EU, is because they fear their possessions might be at risk in their home country, Nigel Gould-Davies, a Russia expert at the United Kingdom’s International Institute for Strategic Affairs, told Al Jazeera." https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/25/how-rich-russians-turned-cyprus-into-moscow-on-the-med https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/25/how-rich-russians-t...
- gawin 6y agoIn the Masters of Scale podcast (1) Eric Schmidt told Reid Hoffman in september that COVID-19 is limiting his ability to do what he loves to do to the extent that he shifted his main focus to COVID-19. One of the reasons for this was his decreased ability to freely move around and meet people. Getting a EU passport makes moving in the EU a lot easier. 1) https://play.acast.com/s/masters-of-scale-with-reid-hoffman/gid%3A%2F%2Fart19-episode-locator%2FV0%2F-oidM7y4ZDOBkh2guylxKZR4Rfq9AegMKZsPA3jInYE https://play.acast.com/s/masters-of-scale-with-reid-hoffman/...
- pers0n 6y agoThis is probably more of a Epstein move than a tax dodge move