Apple is stepping up to the plate — big time.
The tech titan on Wednesday promised to create 20,000 new American jobs over the next five years, part of $350 billion US investment plan.
The iPhone maker also said it will build a second US corporate campus and pay $38 billion in taxes as it moves an undisclosed amount of the $250 billion it holds overseas back to the States.
The moves, in the wake of President Trump’s tax overhaul — which reduced corporate taxes to 21 percent — will also see Apple pay stock-based bonuses of $2,500 to many of its 84,000 US employees.
Executive who earn over a certain amount will not get a bonus, the company said.
Under the Trump tax overhaul, companies will pay a 15.5 percent tax on repatriated funds.
Apple’s moves are in direct response to the tax overhaul.
Trump has slammed the company for creating its phones in China.
The announcement of added jobs, bonuses and the taxes paid on repatriated monies will go a long way ion repairing the Cupertino, Calif., company’s optics in the US, its largest market.
The new Apple facility, which the company said will “be powered entirely by green energy,” will initially house tech support.
The location will be announced later this year.
The tech giant added that it will invest more than $10 billion in data centers across the country to house its iCloud, App Store and Apple Music services.
Apple currently has data centers in seven states, and Wednesday had Chief Executive Tim Cook (pictured) on site to break ground on an expansion of its operations in Reno, Nev.
“We believe deeply in the power of American ingenuity, and we are focusing our investments in areas where we can have a direct impact on job creation and job preparedness,” Cook said in a statement.
The company is also maintaining a pace of more than $50 billion a year at domestic suppliers and manufacturers, and announced that it will increase the size of its Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $1 billion to $5 billion.
The spending announcement caps an excellent year for Apple, which has seen its stock climb 50 percent since January 2017.
It is expected by some to become the first company with a $1 trillion market cap in 2018.
Apple shares climbed 1.7 percent on Wednesday, to $179.10.
Source:Reuters