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Apple Owns $52.6 Billion In US Treasury Securities, More Than Mexico, Turkey or Norway (cnbc.com)
randomErr shares a report from CNBC: If Apple were a foreign country, CEO Tim Cook might have considerable political clout in the United States. That's because the tech giant owns $52.6 billion in U.S. Treasury securities, which would rank it among the top 25 major foreign holders, according to estimates from the Treasury Department and Apple's SEC filings released Wednesday. Apple's stake in U.S. government securities as of June, up from $41.7 billion as of last September, puts it ahead of Israel, Mexico and the Netherlands, according to Treasury data released last month, which tracks up to May of this year. With $20.1 billion in short-term Treasury securities and $31.35 billion in long-term marketable Treasury securities, Apple still falls far below countries like China and Japan, which hold over a trillion dollars in U.S. government debt each -- which has caused considerable hand-wringing in Washington. Still, Apple is way above other big companies like Amazon, which owns less than $5 billion in U.S. government or agency securities combined, according to regulatory filings.
This is Apple News We Need! And this is why I only come to slashdot first -- when I have nothing else to do.
Treasury bonds are an investment instrument. Everybody with a balanced portfolio of investments will have some of them as well as some diversified stocks, in different proportions relative to your investment strategy. Apple just has a fuckton of money, and of course has it invested so it's not losing value while they're not using it, so a significant fraction of that fuckton of money is going to be in treasury bonds.
That doesn't make the government beholden to Apple or anything. It's not like Apple can say "give me back the money you owe me now, or else". If anything it makes Apple more dependent on the Federal government, and its future ability to pay back its debts.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
don't tell the sheep who really runs this country.
China and Japan, which hold over a trillion dollars in U.S. government debt each -- which has caused considerable hand-wringing in Washington.
Can someone who is in the know tell me whether we as Americans should be proud of this and why?
in case something like this happens:
TRUMP: If you don't start making iPhones in USA to Make America Great Again, imma tell all the Breitbart readers to sell AAPL. Then your stock price will tank and you'll be sorry!
COOK: If you do that I'll dump all my US treasuries, interest rates will go up and tank the economy. Then you'll be a one term President!
It always amazes me how used US citizens are to the idea that being in debt is something totally normal - even if it is debt of the government lended from foreign countries.
I for one like to work for money I can spend on goods and services, rather than paying interest.
One day all governments will be Apple.
it's your problem. if you owe the bank $100Gazillion, it's the bank's problem.
Maybe this is why America doesn't have beef's with Apple on much. Maybe Apple also invests in EU too? I would like to see Apple invest in making more here in the US. Yes, maybe their margins would suffer a bit, but come on Apple is completely solid in the Black and if their was something beyond Black Apple would be there financially.
Most of US securities like this are held by US citizens or retirement funds or other US investment vehicles. The article does not supply any context for how much Apple's investments are.
"That doesn't make the government beholden to Apple or anything"
It does in a way, because if Apple decides to liquidate its holdings the sale can and will raise interest rates.
A few billion should be enough to build a platform in open waters, and a few billion more for defense and trade (think if iPhones were only made from said platform-nation)?
.. is funneled through 'off shore' subsidiaries, they *are* essentially a foreign entity.
CEO Tim Cook might have considerable political clout in the United States
It is the other way around, US has clout on Apple! When you own 10000 dollars to the bank, you worry, when you own one billion dollar to the bank, the bank worries.
If someday US wants to collect taxes on Apple, there will be no need to look for money in fiscal paradises, just seize the treasury bonds.
Apple is a foreign entity. They hide profits offshore so they basically pay zero tax in the US. Yes, that's smart. But the bulk of their money is "overseas".
If the government did that, stability would be lost.
3) Like most Libertarians, you're an idiot.
4) You don't have 0% control, you equal control along with every other voter. Most of those voters don't agree with you--that doesn't mean you are unrepresented, it means that people are fully aware of your stupid ideology and they have decided to vote differently.
5) Oh, we shouldn't have a Treasury or Federal Reserve? I take back calling you an idiot, you're actually a complete fucking moron.
6) you are completely free to pick up and move to a country that has fully implemented your Libertarian ideology. I hear Somalia is lovely this time of year.
The government should just void Apple's treasury assets and call it a day.
sudo rm -r -f --no-preserve-root /
Apple along with Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft should be broken up. The time is now.
The government should just void Apple's treasury assets and call it a day.
What you're proposing is absurd because it's a proposal of government seizure of assets.
What if government chose to confiscate your savings, checking, and retirement accounts and called it a day?
Hint: the US government isn't asking Apple to pay taxes they owe, they are asking them to bring their foreign profits to the US so they will owe them taxes on them. Tiny difference (for huge values of "tiny").