Apple is amongst the companies that have received the biggest state and local subsidies in the U.S. It got US$891 million in 2021. For comparison, Samsung picked up US$1.2 billion, Disney received US$570 million, and Oracle was given US$240 million, according to data from Good Jobs First, presented by Statista.
Apple Got US$891 Million in Subsidies in 2021
For tech and media companies, much of the money went towards building R&D centers, relocations of corporate offices and office campuses in certain states. It is though worth noting that not every U.S. state makes such subsidies public. However, the data still provides an interesting insight into the money that hugely wealthy companies get from the public purse.
Subsidies can help bring jobs and opportunities to an area. It was also obviously deemed important to support companies and their employees through the COVID pandemic and to make sure economic activity continued.
Criticism of North Carolina Agreement
Not all such payments are though well received. Back in December, a subsidy to Apple from North Carolina, where the company is building a new campus, was branded 2021’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year” by the Center for Economic Accountability (CEA). The arrangement is worth over US$846 million. John Mozena, president of the CEA, said:
A billion dollars is a lot of money for North Carolina’s taxpayers and communities, because that’s a billion dollars’ worth of public services not being funded. But for a company like Apple, which reported more than a billion dollars a day in revenues this past year, it isn’t anywhere near enough money to move the needle on a major site selection decision.