No, not at all. At least not if this were in the US (or he was a US citizen). I'm not sure what the tax system is like in Taiwan. If this were the US, he'd still have to pay income tax on the $3 million he received for payment for services, and he'd essentially gift the money over to the 10K employees.
Your allowed to give each individual 13K (last time I checked) in gifts each year—but there's a lifetime limit to watch out for. In either case, even if there were issues with gift tax, it would be the gifter that would have to pay the tax, not the recipient. So, it would still be a win for the employees. Good for them, and for him.
I don't know Taiwan's tax laws either, but assuming they are similar to the US it is highly unlikely he structured the transaction that way. It is much more likely that before receiving the money he renegotiated a contract for the period and then had the company distribute the gain to employees rather than himself.
Not necessarily. I don't know the tax code in Taiwan at all. In the US, he might have received the $3 million, paid income tax on it, and then gifted it to each employee, who would not have to pay tax on it. Or he could have asked the Board of Directors to not pay him the money at all, in which case he would not pay taxes on it, but each recipient would have to count it as income for tax purposes.
There is no reason he would have actually taken the $3m, then redistributed it. Sure, you can make that assumption but it is the least likely event happening possible.
The story doesn't necessarily reflect reality. It is always safe to assume what you know is probably true rather than trust an author who's job is to write quick and get hits on their site.
Like I said, it is extremely unlikely he put the money in his bank account, then sent it to employees.
