In last month‘s edition of Bruce Rauner: The Everyman, we brought you to his $100,000 parking spot in Chicago. This month, it’s off to the Cayman Islands, the offshore tax haven where Rauner has been parking his millions, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Although Rauner has refused to release his most recent tax returns in full, the Sun-Times ties parts of Rauner’s fortune to five different Cayman Islands investments.
If you want to accessorize like Rauner, all you’ll need is an $18 watch. But if you want to offshore bank in the Cayman Islands like Rauner does, that’ll run you a minimum $500,000 – $1 million investment, according an expert quoted in the Sun-Times. Of course, that’s but pocket change for Rauner, who reported $53 million in earnings in 2012.
Rauner isn’t just sending his millions down to the Caymans for a little tax-free R&R. He’s also been using them to self-fund his gubernatorial campaign. NBC Chicago reports today that Rauner has invested another $1.5 million into his campaign, bringing the total so far to a staggering $10 million.
Given that Rauner is stashing millions in the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes, it follows that he opposes a proposal to eliminate tax breaks for companies that move their headquarters overseas for the same purpose. “The right answer is not to create walls to block people or companies in the country, that’s terrible,” Rauner told a local newscast, natch.
Watch Bruce Rauner defend tax havens and outsourcing:
Rauner “Channeled At Least Part Of His Fortune Into The Cayman Islands,” Which Was Known As A “Tax Haven For American Investors.” According to the Chicago Sun-Times, “Multimillionaire Republican Bruce Rauner has channeled at least part of his fortune into the Cayman Islands, a Caribbean paradise long criticized as a tax haven for American investors, the Chicago Sun-Times has confirmed.” [Chicago Sun-Times, 8/1/14]
Published: Aug 5, 2014