American billionaire hedge-fund manager Julian Robertson took $800,000 in COVID-19 aid from New Zealand's government to pay the staff at his luxury resorts

A billionaire former hedge-fund manager took hundreds of thousands of dollars from New Zealand's government to pay the staff at the lu...

A billionaire former hedge-fund manager took hundreds of thousands of dollars from New Zealand's government to pay the staff at the luxury resorts he owns there, data from New Zealand's Ministry of Social Development shows.

Julian Robertson's luxury resorts and golf courses received more than $1.2 million NZ ($800,000 USD) in aid to help them pay their staff as tourism came to a grinding halt amid the coronavirus pandemic. Like the Paycheck Protection Program in the United States, New Zealand's wage subsidies scheme has been criticized for giving funds to larger businesses that could survive without government aid.

An investigation by the Ministry of Social Development found that some recipients of the subsidies withheld the money from the unemployed workers for which it was destined, The Guardian reported. Robertson's properties have not been accused of misusing the funds.

A representative for Robertson did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the subsidies or how they will be used. A spokeswoman for Robertson told New Zealand news site Stuff.co.nz that Robertson's businesses had drawn (and continued to draw) from their cash reserves. "Our staff are an important asset, and the New Zealand Government's wage subsidy helps protect them," the spokeswoman told the outlet.

The properties that received funds include the Kauri Cliffs golf course and lodge where former President Barack Obama played during a visit to New Zealand in 2018. Rooms at that resort start at $1,730 NZ ($1,060 USD), according to its website. Three other properties owned by Robertson also benefited from the subsidies, covering 187 total employees, according to New Zealand's Ministry of Social Development database.

Robertson is the sole owner of the resorts, according Stuff.co.nz, which first reported that Robertson's companies had received government subsidies. The 87-year-old billionaire is estimated to have a net worth of more than $4 billion from running hedge fund Tiger Management between 1980 and 2000, per Forbes.