Thread: Trump advisor Peter Thiel became New Zealand citizen in California in 2011

Peter Thiel became New Zealand citizen in California in 2011


NICK PERRY
Associated Press February 1, 2017
779 Comments


WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Silicon Valley billionaire and President Donald Trump adviser Peter Thiel was able to gain New Zealand citizenship in 2011 despite never having lived in the country, because a top lawmaker decided his entrepreneurial skills and philanthropy were valuable to the nation, documents reveal.

Thiel didn't even have to leave California to become a new member of the South Pacific nation. He was granted citizenship during a private ceremony held at the New Zealand Consulate in Santa Monica.

The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs on Wednesday released 145 pages of partially redacted documents detailing how Thiel became a citizen.

His status was first reported by The New Zealand Herald newspaper last month and raised questions because Thiel didn't fulfil the usual criteria requiring people to live in the country.

In his application, Thiel wrote that he owned a home in New Zealand but if he was granted citizenship, he would need to continue residing in the U.S. to manage his California-based companies.

He said he realized his circumstances wouldn't usually qualify him for citizenship, but that he believed he was an exception.

"In the course of pursing my international business opportunities, my travel, personal philosophical commitments and benefaction, I am happy to say categorically that I have found no other country that aligns more with my view of the future than New Zealand," he wrote.

He said that as part of his study into how he could contribute to the local entrepreneurial environment, he had consulted with John Key, who was New Zealand's prime minister at the time.

Thiel wrote that "it would give me great pride to let it be known that I am a New Zealand citizen."
However, Thiel's citizenship status only became publicly known following last month's newspaper report. The 2011 documents show that Thiel also remained a citizen of Germany, where he was born.

Thiel, 49, co-founded PayPal and was the first professional investor in Facebook. He secretly bankrolled a lawsuit against the news and gossip site Gawker which led to its bankruptcy and closure. Forbes estimates his net worth at $2.7 billion, which makes him one of New Zealand's wealthiest citizens.

He has been an important adviser to Trump, who has vowed to put "America first."

When considering Thiel's application, New Zealand officials noted that he had established a venture capital fund in New Zealand which had invested in a Wellington-based online accounting business, Xero.

"Mr. Thiel has demonstrated his philanthropy through making a million-dollar donation to the Christchurch earthquake relief fund," officials wrote as part of a letter recommending his application be approved.

His citizenship was granted through a special approval by lawmaker Nathan Guy, who at the time was the Internal Affairs minister.

Opposition lawmaker Iain Lees-Galloway tweeted Wednesday that the decision was "entirely about money" and that citizenship shouldn't be for sale.

Government figures show that over the past five years, New Zealand has received about 150,000 citizenship applications, with 92 receiving special approval by the minister after taking into account exceptional circumstances.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/peter-thi...063211660.html

I read Thiel did that to secure a major property tax advantage for an investment he was making there that was only available to citizens of New Zealand.

Breaking News: Business people hate taxes.

"Peter Thiel was able to gain New Zealand citizenship in 2011 despite never having lived in the country"

"Thiel also remained a citizen of Germany, where he was born."

And he has U.S. citizenship.


Peter Thiel, Trump Adviser, Has a Backup Country: New Zealand - The ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/.../peter-thiel-new-zealand-citizenship.html
Jan 25, 2017 - In these uncertain times, it is undoubtedly smart to have a backup country. But the news that one of the richest citizens of New Zealand is a naturalized American who was born in Germany set off an immediate furor in the island nation. One question being asked was why Mr. Thiel became a New Zealander in 2011.

What is the issue? It's legal for US citizens to have multi-national citizenship, isn't it?

In the past when Mexicans have dual citizenship you have said dual citizenship should not be allowed. Now all of a sudden it's a good thing??

Oh, so I am your issue? Well, great!!! Here it is for you, I don't believe any American citizen should have citizenship in another country, not Jews, Not Mexicans, Not British, not Movie Stars, not Business People, not candidates for President, not anyone. I would like to see a law or an amendment to the US Constitution to forbid foreign citizenship of US citizens. You can choose one or the other, but not both.

But for now, to my knowledge, it's legal, and tens of millions of Americans have it, and because tens of millions of Americans have it, I seriously doubt there will be any changes to it. In elections, I think Americans should avoid voting for candidates with dual citizenship because of the conflict of interest in political affairs.

Maybe, there could be a law passed to restrict dual citizenship in federal elections, but that would probably throw half of the Democrats and some Republicans out of office. So it's doubtful even that would pass. But it might be worth the effort to try.

It would also be nice to require naturalized citizens to comply with our citizenship laws which requires swearing loyalty to the United States which foreign citizenship of course over-rides.

I do not like the idea of dual citizenship and it should end. You either pledge your allegiance to one country or the other. Times have changed and there is too much violence and terrorism and fraud in this World.

Now we have people in Europe that come here with dual citizenship with Middle Eastern countries. So if they have citizenship in Germany and Iran...we ban them coming from Iran...but they can USE their citizenship from Germany to get on our soil.

Another Pandora's Box that needs to be slammed shut.

There's so many at this point, it would hard to achieve, but we should probably try, at least for federal elected officials.

Originally Posted by Beezer

I do not like the idea of dual citizenship and it should end. . .

YES. For everyone.

Billionaire Trump Adviser Peter Thiel Bought His New Zealand Citizenship, Documents Show

The Intercept · 1 hour ago