Banker Tries To Impress Benicio del Toro with a $60,000 Bar Tab

From Huff Po (note: The receipt with this story shows 40 grand for the total but the story quotes 60???):

It's no surprise that rich people will go to ridiculous lengths to show off how wealthy they are. But one London banker just took ridiculousness to a whole new level.

An energy commodities trader, whose identity is unknown, spent over $60,000 at a private club in west London on Nov. 1, according to the Sun. While the exact reason for the outlandish bill is unknown, onlookers suspected the banker was trying to impress Academy Award Winning actor Benicio del Toro who strolled into the bar moments before the spending frenzy began.

The banker’s tab included two $2,600 bottles of Belvedere vodka, three $12,700 bottles of Dom Perignon champagne and $2,400 worth of Don Julio 1942 tequila. The late night escapade was fueled by caffeine--25 Red Bulls that cost $140, to be precise. The bill also included a tip for $8,000.

Surprisingly, the unnamed banker is hardly the first person to shell out big bucks in order to impress celebrities. In 2011, a Russian billionaire bought Heather Graham and Zac Efron a $100,000 bottle of champagne at a Chicago nightclub, CBS reports. The billionaire also bought two bottles of Grey Goose for $1,250 and two bottles of Dom Perignon for $2,500.

London bankers are apparently notorious for spending ridiculous amounts of money on alcohol. Last year, nine hedge funders burned through $111,000 on their company’s Christmas party, according to Eater.

This past summer, 15 Olympic officials spent $69,000 on lunch alone. The most expensive item on their bill was a $30,000 bottle of Hennessy Cognac.

Del Toro, who won an academy award for his role as Javier Rodriguez in Traffic, reportedly left the bar shortly after the trader and his friends. Apparently, $60,000 of fun is enough for one night out on the town -- even for celebrities.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Comments

[Robert]

Notice the address- London. The equivalent to 40K British pounds is some $63,000.

[Cherry IScream]

Mixed feelings. On the one hand holy crap that is a hell of a lot of money. What they spent in one night could pay off my entire student loan, and this makes me sad.

On the other, at least they tipped well?

[Michael Chandra]

@Cherry: I'm guessing the service charge is automatically calculated as a 15% gratuity fee, doubt the rich guy had a choice.

[perky]

For that much money my student loans could be paid off and have enough left over for a nice size down payment on a house. It just seems criminal that some people have so much when others have to struggle just to put food on the table.

[NewYorkGirl]

10 zombies....for real..om nom nom...

[NC Tony]

Why do rich assholes think they're impressing celebrities when throwing money around? I mean yeah 60 grand is a shitload of money that most of us can only imagine having, but a big movie star can make a couple of movies and rake in that kind of cheddar easily.

[Spritzy]

It seems that the items at that bar are insanely overpriced. That's what..1000% markup on those things?

[Vulpis]

@Robert! Oh! That would explain it, then. I was about to comment on the poster saying the Red Bulls cost $140, when the receipt rather plainly reads 87.50.

[The Last Archimedean]

If I had that kind of $$$ where 60K was just a drop in the bucket, I'd start giving out scholarships to college-age kids rather than blow it on liquor trying to impress a celebrity.

Although if Pam Ferris was present, I might well be tempted to try and impress her... but not by blowing $60K on booze. I'd ask if she wanted to be my dinner date.

[UnCooperative]

£40,000 GBP = $60,000 USD (and in the UK, there generally is no graduinty / forced service charge - personally, I've only ever seen it in two restarants in the UK - both of which only enforce on the food bill on parties over 12 in size)

[Kiliana Nightwolf]

Since when do two bottles of Grey Goose cost over $1000?

[John]

Every one has missed the fact that these dumb-ass over payers are BANKERS. They are the ones to be holding our money not spending it on over-priced foolishness.
Workers of the world unite!