The famed EV company called Tesla, which has just opened its very first showroom in New Zealand recently in 2018, has claimed a total of $169,000 wage subsidies for only 24 staff. CEO and 20% owner of the company Elon Musk reached the status of the world's 3rd richest person amassing an estimated net worth of about $84.8 billion USD last August, according to Fortune.com.
The known Government subsidy scheme was created to help provide cash to certain employers that experienced a revenue drop due to the whole COVID-19. This was given in order to help those companies continue to pay their staff. The entire subsidy was about $14 billion and during its peak, was able to help support 1.8 million jobs.
The Tesla CEO stated that he was actually against the known government handouts that were initially designed to reduce the total economic carnage coming from the pandemic. He stated that any given stimulus should be direct payments towards customers.
Goal of government should be to maximize the happiness of the people. Giving each person money allows them to decide what meets their needs, rather than the blunt tool of legislation, which creates self-serving special interests. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2020
A few of those companies decided to give back a portion of the subsidies they took
Some time last week, the known NZ Super Fund said that certain companies that took a part of the whole COVID-19 wage subsidy should actually review their finances and should in fact consider whether their holding onto the New Zealanders' money was actually appropriate.
As of the week that ended on October 9, there were already about $500 million in total that has been paid back in a whopping 16,293 refunds.
Other companies decided to pay their shareholders through dividends
There were some New Zealand stock listed companies that include the known Briscoe Group, a particular retirement village operator known Summerset, and also a retailer known as Hallenstein Glasson Holdings that have all been singled out for actually claiming the subsidy and paying a direct large dividend to their investors after their own business was able to fare even better than it expected during the whole pandemic.
On friday, due to the mounting public pressure for the company to act, Briscoe Group stated that it would be refunding its $11.5 million subsidy. The known wage subsidy register was able to show some of the entire world's largest companies claiming millions in the known wage subsidies.
Coca-Cola Amatil has claimed a part of the COVID-19 subsidies
The known Coca-Cola Amatil (NZ) company, Coca-Cola's very own local bottler, has claimed a total of $7.2 million in wage subsidies for its known business in New Zealand. It was in fact deemed an essential service, meaning they were granted permission to continue operation even throughout the lockdown, but a large deal of their customers could not.
The New Zealand Coca-Cola Amatil business' owner recently declared a whopping dividend totalling $65 million AUS or $70 million NZ paying their investors 9 cents per share. This was also an Australian stock exchange listed company.
Related Article: Tesla Cuts Model S Prices by $3,000 as it Boosts Model X Range with 2021 Version
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian Buenconsejo
