A former CEO of multinational technology company Google is finalizing a plan to become a Cypriot citizen, Recode reported.
According to Recode, Eric Schmidt, worth $17 billion, is taking advantage of Cyprus’ “passport-for-sale” program.
“Schmidt, one of America’s wealthiest people, and his family have won approval to become citizens of the Mediterranean nation, according to a previously unreported notice in a Cypriot publication in October,” Recode reported.
Cyprus, along with many other countries, allows foreigners to purchase citizenship rights, after they make between $2 million and $3 million of investments.
A representative for the former Google CEO declined to comment on the move, according to Recode.
Schmidt’s decision is very similar to that of Peter Thiel, another famous tech billionaire who tried to secure citizenship in New Zealand back in 2011, the report said.
But largely, this move is a peer into the world of billionaires and how they can maximize their freedoms and finances via reliance on permissive laws of countries in which they are not citizens.
