Ever partied for $100,000 per hour? One British finance wonder kid seems to have.
Alex Hope, a 23-year-old UK foreign exchange trader, reportedly racked up what, if true, could be one of the most expensive nightclub bills of all time, a whopping $320,381.65 in just three hours of partying, the Mirror reports. That would be even more than NBA phenom Lebron James spent at a Las Vegas nightclub, when he was once billed over $171,000.
At the Playground Club in Liverpool, Hope, who describes himself as a "self-taught trader," reportedly lavished fellow partiers with a specially ordered 30-liter bottle of champagne by luxury brand Ace of Spades worth nearly $200,000, as well as close to 50 other, smaller bottles ranging in price from $780 to nearly $40,000.
After a recent story about a banker's one percent lunch tip didn't hold up, it's advised not to take the claims all too seriously. Still, a representative from Hope's PR agency confirmed to The Huffington Post that, at the very least, Hope was among a group of those responsible for the effervescent extravagance. The manager of the Playground said he did in fact call the club in advance to specially pre-order the giant bottle.
See the entire receipt below:
Hope, who is employed by Zone Invest Group, discovered he had a knack for foreign exchange trading while working at a fast food restaurant and aspiring to become a soccer player, and he soon became one of the industry's rising stars, according to the Mirror. "Currency is my passion," Hope boldly declares on his personal site.
Hope's lavish celebration is one in a long line of decadent Wall Street-like parties, but his version may be unlike some celebrations of recent months. Many big banks moved their typically extravagant holiday parties in-house or cancelled them all together last year, according to The New York Times.
But extravagant balls may be back on the rise, if they ever really left. In January, Wall Street fraternity Kappa Beta Phi hosted an opulent event at the St. Regis Hotel in New York, one of many luxury hotels that the industry continues to patronize, according to USA Today. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley upgraded their cocktail parties to snazzier locations this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Bloomberg reports.
And even day-to-day, finance types like Hope are pushing the limits of luxury. "Rampant" abuse of employee meal stipends has allowed many traders to frequently charge lobster and dinners worth up to $90 to their firms, Fast Company reports.