Category Archives: Finance/Money

Senators to Saverin: Don’t come back. Ever. – Economy

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Senators to Saverin: Don’t come back. Ever. – Economy.

Eduardo Saverin‘s decision to leave the United States with his money, but not his citizenship, has apparently touched a nerve in the Senate.

Sens. Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey held a press conference Thursday morning on Capitol Hill where they outlined legislation that would prevent the Facebook co-founder from ever returning to the United States.

Saverin, who now lives in Singapore, renounced his U.S. citizenship earlier this year. He will become astronomically wealthy on Friday when his former venture is listed on the NASDAQ. By renouncing his citizenship, Saverin is likely to avoid capital gains taxes on his Facebook shares.

Schumer called Saverin’s decision “outrageous” and labeled his tactics a “scheme.”

“Saverin has turned his back on the country that welcomed him and kept him safe, educated him, and helped him become a billionaire,” Schumer said. “This is a great American success story gone horribly wrong.”

Saverin and his representatives insist the Brazilian native did not renounce his citizenship for tax reasons.

In statement to CNN on Thursday, Saverin said it was “unfortunate” that his choice had led to a debate “based not on the facts, but entirely on speculation and misinformation.”

“I am obligated to and will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the United States government,” Saverin said. “I have paid and will continue to pay any taxes due on everything I earned while a U.S. citizen.”

Still, it seems likely that the move will help Saverin escape some of the hefty taxes he’d have to pay on his Facebook stake, though it’s not known exactly how much of the company Saverin currently owns.

He owned 5% of the company’s outstanding shares as recently as 2009, according to “The Facebook Effect,” by David Kirkpatrick, but he has sold off some of those shares since then. He was not listed among those owning 5% or more of the company in Facebook’s pre-IPO regulatory filings.

The Brazilian-born Facebook co-founder became a U.S. citizen in 1998 and has been living in Singapore since 2009, but the United States requires its citizens to pay income taxes no matter where they live. Saverin, who provided some of Facebook’s initial financing, has not played an active role in the company for many years.

Schumer and Casey are calling their bill the “Ex-PATRIOT Act.”

The proposal says that if a wealthy American seeks to renounce their citizenship, it will be presumed they have done so for tax purposes, unless the individual can convince the IRS otherwise.

If the person is unable to convince the IRS, they will be subject to 30% capital gains tax on future U.S. investments no matter where they live. Furthermore, they will not be allowed back into the United States. “Period,” Schumer said. “They could not set foot in this country again.”

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Entry is free this week at national parks

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Entry is free this week at national parks; fire management officer also named | Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register | visaliatimesdelta.com.

National Park Week, which offers free entrance to 397 parks throughout the United States, will continue until Sunday.

For 10 days each year, park visitors throughout the nation can enjoy everything the parks have to offer for free.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks spokeswoman Dana Dierkes said visitors should log on to the parks’ website or read the parks’ newspaper, which includes information about ranger-led programs.

ÔªøIn other news, David Allen has been named the parks’ fire management officer.

Allen, who has a degree in biology from the University of California, Berkeley, has worked as Sequoia National Park district fire management officer and aviation manager for last 12 years.

His previous experience includes working at Yellowstone National Park with a helitack crew, Yosemite National Park as the prescribed fire specialist and at Indiana Dunes National Park as the fire management officer.

“Dave brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience to this position,” Chief Ranger Kevin Hendricks said.

“His performance here in the parks, as well as in a number of other prior jobs and assignments, has shown his ability to lead and direct a complex program,” he added.

Allen said he has grown to understand the issues of fire management in the Sierra Nevada during his tenure here.

“Managing a highly fire-adapted and fire-prone area such as these parks is a challenge I look forward to,” he said.

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Microsoft plans to build data center in Cheyenne – BusinessWeek

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Microsoft plans to build data center in Cheyenne – BusinessWeek.

Microsoft Corp. has agreed to invest up to $112 million to build a new data center in southeast Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead announced Monday.

Mead said work on the center near the state capital of Cheyenne should begin soon and should be operational next spring.

The state of Wyoming has pledged $10.7 million in grants and incentives for the project. Microsoft is making an initial $78-million investment and plans to go up to $112 million, Mead said.

Mead said the center ultimately may employ about 40 people in jobs that pay well over the local average. He said the data center promises to generate $25 million in tax revenues over five years.

Mead noted that Cheyenne has racked up other recent coups in the competitive world of attracting high-tech facilities. The National Center for Atmospheric Research recently choose Wyoming’s capital city as the site for construction of one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers and other private companies have located facilities there as well.

“We’re looking good. We’ve got some great momentum,” Mead said. “My hope is it won’t be too soon, that we don’t just mention ag, energy, tourism and small business, it will also add to that list, as a common practice, technology.”

Officials said the center will help expansion of Microsoft’s cloud computing efforts. Cloud computing allows workers to retrieve computer programs and key documents stored remotely using any device with an Internet connection.

Christian Belady, general manager of Data Center Services in Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services group, issued a statement through Mead’s office.

“Microsoft is excited to once again expand its cloud infrastructure and services capacities for our customers in Wyoming and the region,” Belady said. “We greatly appreciate the work that the governor, the economic development team and local officials in Cheyenne and Laramie County have done to make Wyoming a smart place for Microsoft to do business.”

Bob Jensen, head of the Wyoming Business Council, said the state is putting up $10.7 million in various incentives to lure Microsoft, including $5 million from data center recruitment funds provided by the Wyoming Legislature.

Randy Bruns, head of the Cheyenne-Laramie County Corporation for Economic Development (LEADS), said Microsoft has committed to provide certain salary levels. “The qualifying jobs have to be 150 percent of the county average or greater,” he said. “Those are our numbers. They’ve agreed to meet or exceed those numbers.”.

Bruns said the center will employ people from Wyoming as much as possible. He said the state for years has been educating people who could perform such jobs, but has been sending them out of state because of a lack of employment opportunities.

Although officials said they had agreed not to give the specific location of the data center, Bruns said it’s being built on property owned by Cheyenne-LEADS west of Cheyenne. The NCAR supercomputer is also in the area.