Larry Page, Google’s co-founder and one of the world’s richest men, has been granted New Zealand residency under a category for wealthy investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Applicants are required to invest at least NZ$10m ($7m, \u00a35m) in New Zealand over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Page entered New Zealand in January, when its borders were still closed because of Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the government said he was allowed in because of a medical emergency application involving his son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Page, 48, had applied for residence in November. However, his application could not be processed because he was offshore at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in January, the US tech billionaire was allowed into New Zealand so his son could be evacuated from Fiji because of a medical emergency, the government confirmed on Thursday. His application was approved in February.
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In parliament this week, Health Minister Andrew Little defended the decision to grant him entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“[His entry] met all the standard conditions of a medical emergency requiring a medical evacuation from the islands, and every requirement and regulation that was in place… was complied with,” Mr Little said, according to a transcript on the parliament’s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some critics of the decision highlighted its apparent unfairness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We have got these GPs or nurses who are stuck in an interminable waiting room to get their residence, whereas Larry [Page] comes in and boom, straight away can become a resident,” immigration adviser Katy Armstrong told Radio New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Page is listed as one of the richest people in the world with a reported wealth of more than $116 bn. He stepped down as chief executive of Google’s parent company Alphabet in 2019, but remains a board member and controlling shareholder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is not the first Silicon Valley tech billionaire to have taken a particular interest in New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter Thiel, a co-founder of Paypal and early investor in Facebook, once described the South Pacific island nation as “the future” and became a citizen back in 2011. He has since invested heavily there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Located more than 6,000 miles (10,000km) from the US mainland, New Zealand was recently identified as a country more resilient than most to the threat of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a study released last month, researchers at the UK-based Global Sustainability Institute described New Zealand as “best placed to survive the collapse of global civilisation”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The temperate, mountainous country is well-placed to deal with threats such as rising sea levels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Larry Page, Google’s co-founder and one of the world’s richest men, has been granted New Zealand residency under a category for wealthy investors. Applicants are required to invest at least NZ$10m ($7m, \u00a35m) in New Zealand over three years. Mr Page entered New Zealand in January, when its borders were still closed because of Covid-19. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n