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Apple defends moving offshore profits to the tax haven of Jersey
A set of leaked documents from offshore law firm Appleby has revealed that Apple stashed $250 billion in Jersey, a tiny island off the coast of France known for being a tax haven. The tech titan apparently secretly moved its pile of overseas profits to the island after the US and various European governments cracked down on the tax strategy it's been employing since the 1980's. Apple used to rely on an arrangement called the "double Irish," which took advantage of Ireland's business-friendly tax policies.
Russia funded Facebook and Twitter investments through tech magnate
Russia's entanglement with American social networks just got decidedly complicated. Leaked documents obtained by the Guardian (among other outlets) have revealed that two state-owned Russian institutions, the oil giant Gazprom and VTB Bank, funded investments in both Facebook and Twitter through Russia-born tech luminary Yuri Milner's investment company DST Global. VTB's contribution was a relatively direct $191 million in shares, while Gazprom's investment wing backed an "opaque" offshoring company (Kanton) that ended up holding $1 billion in Facebook shares.
