At least 18 billionaires including George Soros, Erik Prince and the owners of several professional sports teams all received stimulus checks during COVID, thanks to tax loopholes that allowed them to declare only minimal income.
Data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), analyzed by ProPublica, showed widespread problems in the system used by the government.
In March 2020, the IRS sent $1,200 payments to individuals who earned adjusted gross annual income below $75,000.
A second check, for $600, was issued in December 2020 and a third, for $1,400, was issued in April of this year.
Yet despite the income limit of $75,000, wealthy individuals still received the money because of clever accounting tools to show negative income.
George Soros, the 91-year-old investor and philanthropist, is among at least 18 billionaires who received stimulus checks. Soros and his son Robert both received checks, and both returned them
The U.S. government sent out three stimulus checks, in March and December 2020 and April 2021
Soros, an investor and philanthropist worth an estimated $8.6 billion, who has advocated for higher taxes for the wealthy, received two of the three checks and sent his $2,400 back.
'George returned his stimulus check. He certainly didn't request one!' his spokesman told ProPublica.
His son, Robert Soros, did the same, a spokesperson said.
ProPublica found 270 taxpayers who collectively disclosed $5.7 billion in income, according to their previous tax return, but who were able to deduct such massive sums from their tax returns that they listed negative net incomes, and so qualified for stimulus checks.
At least 18 were billionaires.
Many more were multimillionaires, such as Dick Fuld, the former CEO of Lehman Brothers, who is now worth an estimated $250 million.
Since the company collapsed in 2008 he has been running a company called Matrix Investment Partners: The tax losses generated by that company were one reason, ProPublica reported, that he got a stimulus check.
Asked by the website if he wanted to comment, he replied: 'I'm not interested. Thank you.'
Dick Fuld, who was CEO of Lehman Brothers at the time of its collapse in 2008, also received a stimulus check. He is pictured preparing to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in October 2008
Erik Prince, the founder of the controversial private military firm Blackwater, also received a stimulus check
Erik Prince, a vocal Trump supporter whose sister Betsy DeVos served as Trump's education secretary, also received a check, despite his fortunate - from private security firm Blackwater, and family money - being worth an estimated $2 billion.
Prince, before his tax deductions, had $5.3 million in income in 2018 and Blackwater received hundreds of millions in government contracts.
The 52-year-old has denounced excess government spending, saying we are being 'bled dry'.
Another recipient of the checks was Ira Rennert, an 87-year-old industrialist and investor, worth an estimated $3.7 billion.
Rennert's home in the Hamptons, Fair Field, is believed to be the largest house in the United States, covering 62,000 square feet - nearly an acre and a half.
The 29-bedroom beachfront home, with a 91-foot-long dining room,
