The major deal that the Sussex’s struck with the streaming giant, Netflix, has been all over the news in the past week. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex who found their way to California, and who recently purchased a $14.7 million estate in an exclusive subdivision in Montecito hit the jackpot with the multiyear contract with Netflix.
According to insiders, Harry and Meghan Markle were given a paycheck of somewhere between $100 million to $150 million from Netflix.
This has been one of the biggest contracts released by the streaming giant and according to the co-founder of Netflix, they are more than excited to work with the royal couple.
The couple is also in the works of making a media production company, as to what the name is, it has yet to be revealed. Tax adviser David Lesperance suspects that the couple will choose to build their production company in another country.
Lesperance pointed out before that California is a high tax state, and the possibility of Harry and Meghan being taxed individually is highly likely.
With their new deal with Netflix, this will add another burden for the couple. Even their mansion in Montecito will possibly be taxed highly.
“Are those expenses to be borne by the Sussexes production company or Netflix? Where is that production company going to be located — California? If many of the productions are not in the US, I would advise them to set up outside of the US in a zero-tax jurisdiction, of which there are many. If those investors are international, it’s easier to do it in a non-tax jurisdiction, for example, the Cayman Islands,” Lesperance stated in an interview with Express.co.uk.
The tax adviser believes that the couple will be located somewhere with zero tax.
This move is not unlikely, numerous production companies and private investors have done this for many years to dodge immeasurable tax fees.
Even the royal family has been involved in scandals such as this with their offshore accounts being revealed to the public.
Harry and Meghan have not yet released a statement regarding the future of their production company. As of now, the couple is concentrating on straightening out their business.
Both the royals have had previous involvement with other streaming giants, the first gig Meghan had after leaving the royal family was to narrate a documentary for Disney+.
Harry, on the other hand, appeared to have cut a deal with Oprah Winfrey to produce a show that highlights mental health for AppleTV. He also had a cameo for the documentary ‘Rising Phoenix’ on Netflix.