Missing CEO William Millard Found After 20 Years
In 1985, Forbes named William H. Millard one of the wealthiest businessmen in the world. As a founder of technology retail chain ComputerLand, Millard was estimated to be worth $480 million. But after numerous legal wrangles with investors, Millard sold the company for nearly $250 million in 1987, left the US, and didn’t look back.
For over 20 years, Millard traveled the world, amassing back taxes worth tens of millions of dollars. However, his extended world tour has come to an end after private investigators found the 79-year-old in the Cayman Islands.
That news will be of interest to authorities in Saipan. Millard settled on the remote Pacific island with his family before leaving suddenly in 1990; he now faces an unpaid tax bill in Saipan of $59 million. That bill was originally for $17 million, but more than trebled over time due to delinquency fees.
Millard’s status as a tax fugitive saw him moving on to the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong, Ireland, and Grand Cayman Island, where he was finally apprehended. The Wall Street Journal reports that Millard even dropped his US passport and took on Irish citizenship along the way.
As he traveled, officials could trace Millard’s movements in Singapore, Ireland, Brussels, Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands, but never identify his exact location.
In 2010, a law firm and private investigators were hired by authorities in Saipan. They eventually tracked down Millard in Orlando, where the runaway was visiting his kids over the Christmas season. He was followed by the sleuths to the airport, and trailed all the way back to his Grand Cayman Island home. The 1986 file photo above is the last publicly available picture of Millard.
No court date for the case against Millard has been set.
