| Cult of Mac

Apple Park to host Toys for Tots open house

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Apple Park
Apple Park is opening its doors to the neighbors.
Photo: Matthew Roberts/Maverick Imagery

Cupertino residents that live near Apple’s new campus are being invited inside Apple Park for a holiday toy drive.

Email invites to the exclusive event started going out this week to people who live near Apple Park. Apple Park has a big visitor center but rarely lets outsiders inside the spaceship campus.

Take a look at the invite:

Apple buys $290 million worth of more office space in Cupertino

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Applecampus
The new Apple campus in Cupertino.
Photo: Google Maps

It seems like Apple just completed its move into Apple Park just recently but apparently, the iPhone-maker is growing so quickly it already needs a major office space expansion.

Local news outlets in the Bay Area recently reported that Apple just gobbled up another two giant office complexes in Cupertino, giving the company over 200,000 square-feet within throwing-distance of the new Apple HQ and the old Infinite Loop campus it still uses.

Forrest Gump’s investment in Apple would be worth $28 billion today

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Forrest Gump finds out he owns part of Apple
Forrest Gump finds out he owns part of a “fruit company.”
Screen cap: Paramount

In the Oscar-winning movie Forrest Gump, there’s a short scene in which Tom Hanks’s character opens a letter of thanks from Apple after his former military colleague and business partner Lieutenant Dan invested some of the profits from the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in “some kind of fruit company.”

It’s been 25 years since that movie debuted. If Gump was real and if he was still clinging on to his investment today, his investment in the Cupertino company would worth around $28 billion.

Cupertino shells out big bucks to stay Apple’s hometown

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Apple Park
Being home to Apple's HQ doesn't come cheap.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Apple is synonymous with the city of Cupertino — and vice versa. But Cupertino still has to offer Apple the right tax deal in order to stay the hometown of choice for the city’s biggest taxpayer.

According to a new report, Cupertino has awarded Apple close to $70 million, taken from sales-tax collections in the past 20 years. Public records also show that this amount has increased dramatically in the last few years.

Cult of Mac Magazine: What to expect from next week’s big Apple event, and more!

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cover
In this week's Cult of Mac Magazine: Cupertino is calling the faithful to "Gather Round" on Sept. 12 for the unveiling of the latest, greatest iPhones and other new Apple products.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: The annual Apple event we’ve all been waiting for is right around the corner.

On September 12, Apple will host a special keynote from the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park, where it will reveal all the hardware it has planned for this fall.

We’re expecting a slew of big announcements, including updates for the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch — all of which will be covered by Cult of Mac. You’ll find that top story and much more. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

Apple won’t pay Cupertino ‘head tax’ after all

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Apple waives developer fees for nonprofits, others in 8 additional countries
It's not like Apple has the cash to spare!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple won’t have to pay additional taxes to the city of Cupertino based on the company’s number of local employees, city officials have decided.

Some Cupertino City Council members planned to give voters the opportunity to decide whether Apple, and other large local businesses, should pay a “head tax.” Apple would have paid around $9.4 million annually to the city. However, those plans have now been scrapped.

Apple lists good deeds to avoid Cupertino ‘head tax’

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Apple Park Close up
Apple has long been based in Cupertino, where Steve Jobs grew up.
Photo: Apple

Apple is the reason why most non-locals know the name Cupertino. Just in case free international advertising wasn’t enough, however, the company just sent a letter to the Cupertino City Council, outlining all the nice things Apple does to benefit its hometown.

Although it doesn’t mention it, the letter conveniently arrives on the eve of a discussion on whether to impose a “head tax” on Apple employees in the area.

Cupertino postpones vote on ‘head tax’ on Apple employees

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Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Cupertino decided to not raise additional taxes this year on employees working at Apple Park.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Cupertino’s city government decided to ask voters next year whether it should charge businesses a tax on every worker. Apple is the city’s largest employer, so most of the cost would have fallen on the iPhone maker.

The original plan, while vague, was to use the additional revenue to create more affordable housing options and improve Cupertino’s transit system.

Cupertino wants to squeeze extra taxes out of Apple

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money
Headcount tax would charge Apple for every employee in Cupertino.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Cupertino could introduce a tax that would charge Apple an additional fee based on its number of employees. The city has hired a firm to poll residents asking their thoughts on such a tax, and how it should be spent.

At present, Apple has upwards of 25,000 employees in the Bay Area, although it’s not clear how many of these are specifically based in Cupertino. Apple is Cupertino’s largest employer, and has been for many years.

Tim Cook gives Steve Mnuchin an Apple Park tour

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Steve Mnuchin and Tim Cook at the new campus.
Photo: Steve Mnuchin

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, paid a visit to Apple’s new spaceship campus in Cupertino today.

Mnuchin got a tour of Apple Park accompanied by Tim Cook. The Ape CEO has a history of both working against and with Donald Trump’s administration, and in the duo’s photo that was tweeted this afternoon, it doesn’t look like Tim is particularily stoked.

Check out the full tweet: