Bermuda2017.jpg
A visitor carries a Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) tote bag during the Monaco Yacht Show (MYS) in Port Hercules, Monaco, on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Over 125 of the world's most luxurious yachts will be displayed in Port Hercules during the 26th MYS which runs from Sept. 28 – Oct. 1. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

The Paradise Papers

It was an unwanted publicity bombshell that rocked the world of the very, very rich.

Earlier this week, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released over 13 million heretofore confidential records documenting the offshore financial interests held by wealthy individuals and corporations who may have wanted to shield their involvement in offshore tax havens from public scrutiny.

Known as the Paradise Papers, the documents originate primarily from Appleby, a Bermuda-based law firm, says the ICIJ. The firm specializes in catering to UHNW clients and blue chip companies, according to its website. The documents were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the ICIJ.

"The promise of tax havens is secrecy — offshore locales create and oversee companies that often are difficult, or impossible, to trace back to their owners," the ICIJ reported, adding that having an offshore entity is often legal.

In a statement, Appleby stresses that the firm has not done "anything unlawful. There is no wrongdoing. [The Paradise Papers are] a patchwork quilt of unrelated allegations with a clear political agenda and movement against offshore. We wish to reiterate that our firm was not the subject of a leak but of a serious criminal act."

Around 31,000 of the individual and corporate clients included in Appleby’s records are U.S. citizens or have U.S. addresses, more than from any other country, according to the news organization. They include prominent businessmen, entertainers and financiers, many with political ties, including cabinet posts.

Here is a Who's Who of individuals from the financial world identified in the Paradise Papers, along with their offshore connections.

Additional reporting by Sean Allocca
Wilbur Ross, U.S. commerce secretary, speaks at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Annual Conference in London.
Wilbur Ross, U.S. commerce secretary, speaks at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Annual Conference in London, U.K., on Monday, Nov. 6, 2017. The CBI is urging an end to the “soap opera” of Brexit and said it will appeal for a “single, clear strategy” in negotiations. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Wilbur Ross

The Panama Papers revealed that Ross, the U.S. Commerce Secretary, retained a stake in shipping company Navigator Holdings, which has close ties to the Kremlin.

According to the New York Times, "the ethics agreement Mr. Ross filed when taking office said he intended to retain several investment partnerships, but did not specify that they were used to hold his stake in Navigator."

The release of the Paradise Papers has prompted calls for further investigation of Ross' holdings in the Senate.

Dubbed the "King of Bankruptcy," Ross' private equity fund, W. L. Ross & Co., restructured failed companies and sold them later for a profit. The company was one of Appelby's biggest clients, the ICIJ reports. Appleby administered more than 50 Ross companies and partnerships, most in the Cayman Islands.

The Commerce Department said in a statement that "Reports that Secretary Ross did not disclose his Navigator holdings are completely false — they are listed in sections 10.14. 1.3, 10.15. 1.3, and 24.1.4. 2 of his Form 278, which can be viewed by the public on the Office of Government Ethics website oge.gov."

Ross' net worth was estimated by Forbes to be nearly $3 billion in 2016.
Warren Stephens, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Stephens, speaks during an interview at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Warren Stephens, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Stephens Inc., speaks during an interview at the Securities Industry And Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) annual meting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. SIFMA represents the U.S. securities industry including broker-dealers, banks and asset managers with nearly one million employees providing access to the capital markets. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Warren Stephens

It's no secret that Little Rock, Arkansas-based investment banker Warren Stephens was no fan of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and helped finance attacks on the bureau by its political opponents.

What wasn't known — until the release of the Paradise Papers — is that Stephens had a financial interest in an online payday loan company accused by the CFPB of questionable lending practices.

After reviewing the Paradise Papers, the New York Times reported that Stephens and a business partner asked Appleby to incorporate a holding company, Hayfield Investment Partners, in tax-friendly Delaware. Documents in Appleby's files, according to the Times, showed that Stephens and his funds owned 40% of Hayfield, which had a separate subsidiary called Integrity Advance, the loan company in the CFPB's crosshairs.

A spokesperson for Stephens said in a statement that the Times story "was not an accurate representation of Warren Stephens’ personal involvement in Hayfield Investment Partners."

Stephens "never had any involvement in, or knowledge of, the details of Hayfield’s day-to-day activities," the statement continued. "Moreover, there were no offshore accounts established for the Hayfield investment. Neither Warren Stephens, nor any of his employees, had any role in retaining Appleby’s services, nor were they involved in any discussions with Appleby."
Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn attends the Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma charity event in New York.
Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn attends the Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma charity event in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. Lyft Inc. is worth more than its recent $2 billion valuation, based on the $50 billion value of larger car-hailing rival Uber Technologies Inc., Icahn said, after he led a fundraising round at Lyft last week. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Carl Icahn
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

Carl Icahn

Known as a corporate raider, prominent investor and hedge fund manager Carl Icahn was also drawn to corporate secrecy and offshore corporate tax relief.

Appleby documents show that Icahn was a director of a Bermuda-based biotechnology investment company for 11 years. Icahn, who has worked closely with Donald Trump for years and served as a presidential advisor through mid-August, has a net worth estimated by Forbes at over $16 billion.

According to the ICIJ, Icahn used Appleby for tax advice on his holding in a Brazilian mining company that uses "complex offshore structure utilized holding companies in tax havens."

Icahn's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Billionaire Sheldon Adelson is chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands. Japan is the "ultimate business opportunity" for integrated casino resorts, Adelson said during a keynote presentation in Tokyo.
Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp., speaks during a keynote presentation session at the 14th CLSA Japan Forum in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. Japan is the "ultimate business opportunity" for integrated casino resorts, Adelson said. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Sheldon Adelson

This disclosure may shock you, but Adelson, ranked by the Forbes 400 as the 27th richest man in America, with a net worth estimated at over $35 billion, doesn't like paying taxes.

And according to the Paradise Papers, he did something about it.

Founder and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, one of the world's largest casino operators, the Paradise Papers disclosed that Adelson is also president of Interface Operations, a Bermuda-based company which provided airline services to his casino.

Las Vegas Sands paid tens of millions of dollars to Interface from 2010 to 2016, the ICIJ reports, "effectively shifting Adelson's money from the United States to a tax-free jurisdiction."

Adelson also owns newspapers in Israel and Las Vegas and is a major donor to Republican candidates and conservative causes. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
Director of the U.S. National Economic Council said President Donald Trump's administration won't wait long before selecting a No. 2 official at the Federal Reserve to work alongside incoming Chairman Jerome Powell, while speaking outside the White House in Washington, D.C.
Gary Cohn, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview outside the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017. Cohn said President Donald Trump's administration won't wait long before selecting a No. 2 official at the Federal Reserve to work alongside incoming Chairman Jerome Powell. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Gary Cohn

His tan must have faded.

It turns out that Cohn, the president's chief economic advisor and the director of the National Economic Council, was president of 20 companies incorporated in tax-free Bermuda that were affiliated with a fund managed by Goldman Sachs, where he was president and chief operating officer before joining the Trump administration.

Cohn's Bermuda connection lasted from 2002 to 2006, the ICIJ reports. His office did not respond to a request for a comment.
Paul Singer, founder and president of Elliott Management, speaks during the Bloomberg Invest Summit in New York.
Paul Singer, founder and president of Elliott Management Corp., speaks during the Bloomberg Invest Summit in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. This invitation-only event brings together the most influential and innovative figures in investing for an in-depth exploration of the challenges and opportunities posed by the constantly changing financial, economic and regulatory landscape. Photographer: Misha Friedman/Bloomberg
Misha Friedman/Bloomberg

Paul Singer

Tax haven Cayman Islands caught the attention of hedge fund manager Singer, estimated by Forbes to be worth nearly $3 billion.

Kensington International Ltd ., a holding of Elliott Management, Singer's fund that purchases distressed assets, is registered in the Cayman Islands, the Paradise Papers showed. A company that sued Kensington in 2007 described it as "an opaque offshore entity."

Singer's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Blackstone Group, speaks during the Bloomberg Invest Summit in New York.
Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Blackstone Group LP, speaks during the Bloomberg Invest Summit in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. This invitation-only event brings together the most influential and innovative figures in investing for an in-depth exploration of the challenges and opportunities posed by the constantly changing financial, economic and regulatory landscape. Photographer: Misha Friedman/Bloomberg
Misha Friedman/Bloomberg

Stephen Schwarzman

Schwarzman is co-founder and CEO of the Blackstone Group, one of the biggest private equity firms in the world. He is worth over $12 billion, according to Forbes, and a close ally of President Donald Trump, who named him chairman of the White House business advisory council, which has since disbanded.

According to documents from the papers, Blackstone routed ownership of two large commercial properties in the United Kingdom through a chain of firms and trusts registered in the tax havens of Luxembourg and Jersey.

“Blackstone’s investments are wholly compliant with UK and international tax laws and regulations," a spokesman for Blackstone said. "The property investment structures in question were acquired from institutional investors and are of a type commonly used for decades for investments in UK real estate, including by listed companies and a variety of institutional investors, and were adopted after appropriate advice was taken from leading tax and legal advisers.”
James Simons, director of Renaissance Technologies, testifies during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
James Simons, Director of Renaissance Technologies LLC, speaks during a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Capitol Hill November 13, 2008 in Washington DC. The committee called John Alfred Paulson, President of Paulson and Co. Inc., George Soros, Chairman of the Soros Fund Management LLC, Philip A. Falcone, Senior Managing Director of Harbinger Capital Partners, James Simons, Director of Renaissance Technologies LLC, and Kenneth C. Griffin, CEO and Managing Director of the Citadel Investment Group, and others to testify about hedge fund regulation.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/BLOOMBERG NEWS

James Simons

Simons, the founder of Renaissance Technologies, one of the world's most successful hedge funds, had an offshore trust fund in Bermuda worth billions of dollars, the Paradise Papers revealed.

The Bermuda address limited the IRS's ability to determine the trust's exact holdings and tax its funds until distributions were made to the Simons family

The New York Times reported details about the offshore trust, and in response to questions Simons told the paper that he had "transferred his share to a Bermuda-registered charitable foundation.”

A spokesman for Renaissance declined to comment.
MORE FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING