While we “Average Joes” love to treat ourselves every now and then, our budgets generally dictate the measure of our spoils. We must admit though, that even our spending might seem like a mammoth waste of money to those who are poorer than us.

But what happens when you have an unlimited supply of cash? What sorts of whims would you give into and how much money would you waste on trivial things? Well, we are going to explore some of the most mind-blowing spending made by billionaires. These are things that laypeople would certainly regard as a huge waste of money, yet super-rich people don’t blink an eyelid at it.

Biggest Waste of Money List

From expensive food deliveries costing tens of thousands of dollars, to $24,000 barber cuts, or million-dollar parking spaces, what do the world’s richest people do with their money? Well, some of them spend insane amounts of cash on things that we find so trivial and unnecessary.

Here’s our top list of “waste of money” mega-rich spending sprees:

1. Roman’s Penchant for Sushi

Roman Abramovich was worth over $15 billion dollars at the beginning of 2022. A man known for strong Russian business ties and the owner of one of London’s strongest football teams, Chelsea FC. As a globe trotter, Mr Abramovich has tasted cuisine from all over the world and has his favourite eateries in all the countries he frequents.

When it comes to sushi, there is no better place, in his opinion, than the former Ubon Restaurant in Canary Wharf, London. In fact, if he’s entertaining and providing a sushi night, it seems that no expense it too much to ensure that he and his guests get only the best food, even if it means paying the 3,000+ mile delivery cost.

That’s right, Roman was in Baku, Azerbaijan, and ordered sushi to be chauffeured by limousine to an airport in London and then flown via private jet to Baku, so that he and his friends could enjoy the “best sushi” in Europe.

In case you were wondering, a commercial flight between the two cities usually takes 5 and a half hours. This particular food order cost him a whopping $55,000; a huge waste of money to average earners, but pocket change to the Russian oligarch.

2. $3 Million Lady Gaga Hire

Before we move on to any other big spenders, there is another time Roman Abramovich splurged to entertain his guests. While a big party in ‘our’ world might consist of hiring a local live band to play at our wedding reception or birthday party, Roman could not stoop to such a gesture, especially when entertaining guests on his $600 million yacht.

Instead, he hired Lady Gaga, herself, to perform on the boat for a 90-minute private performance. Her take-home payday was a $2.9 million paycheck for a portion of an evening’s work. A waste of money, or a sign of status? There is a fine line between the two when the sum being spent could literally house several families.

3. Nasi Ganga Helicopter Airlift

Back to the food front. It seems like the super-rich simply won’t compromise when it comes to quality dining. During the international lockdown period in 2020, a rich Malaysian tycoon was really in the mood for some Nasi Kondor (also known as Nasi Ganga). This is an eastern meal made up predominantly of rice, chicken, beef, and egg. The average plateful will cost you around $3 each.

He chartered a helicopter, which had to apply for special clearance, to fly in and pick up a take way delivery of 36 packets of Nasi Ganga for him and his friends. While the food order cost him in the region of $108 dollars + tip, the helicopter charter must have cost multiple thousands of dollars to organize and pay for. Moneyed people simply can’t take no for an answer. What might have seemed like a waste of money, brought momentary satisfaction to at least 36 people. You cannot put a price on friendship, can you?

4. Web Domain Domination

When setting up a business nowadays, your online presence is one of the most important facets of the company. The world of internet travel has made consumers virtual window shoppers, so it’s necessary to have the best presence you can on the web.

Some businesses take it so seriously, in fact, that they are willing to pay millions of dollars just for the best web domain. What may have cost the original domain buyer a couple of dollars can cost a company wanting that domain millions of dollars to acquire it.

Quinstreet, a digital financial company has doled out $85.3 million to domain purchases. They bought both Carinsurance.com for $49.7 million and Insurance.com for $35.6 million in 2010. But these are not the only 7 figures for web domain purchases. The top 7 listed sales include:

 

While paying such high prices for web domains seems like a waste of money, exposure for a big corporate company is often priceless. It’s said that Quinstreet’s Carinsurance.com site receives 200,000 unique visitors each month. It might take some time to pay off that almost $50 million price tag, but in the long term, it’s a good investment.

5. A Little off the Top Please. No Problem, that’ll be $24K!

The Sultan of Brunei is one of the wealthiest men in the world and he is not worried about flaunting it either. He’s the kind of guy where price doesn’t matter, as long as he gets what he wants. So much so, that he flies his own barber in from the United Kingdom to cut his hair and shave him every 3 to 4 weeks. This, at a cost of $15000+ each time.

In fact, when Swine Flu was doing the rounds, he especially organized first-class tickets that would provide his barber, Ken Modestau, a separate booth on the Malaysian Airlines flight. That particular visit cost the Sultan a cracking $24K. Not only does he cover the first-class flights for the 7,000-mile journey, but 5-star accommodation, and several thousand dollars for the actual service, as well.

Ken works for a well-known barbershop in The Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair, where he usually receives $60 a cut for his work. Lucky for him, he has been receiving a handsome payday from the Sultan for the past 16 years now.

6. A Parking Worth More than Your Car

Downtown Manhattan, New York is known for its traffic congestion. There are plenty of yellow cabs in and around the city and now we know why. While purchasing a car is not that expensive in the United States, parking it in such a built-up city could cost a fortune.

Some secure parking spots in the city sell for around $ 1 million dollars. But these are still not the most expensive spaces in the world. The record belongs to a spot in Hong Kong, where some mega-rich individual has paid $1.3 million for off-street parking. Don’t know about you, but I think a cab or town car will suffice just fine thanks.

It’s All Relative

At the end of the day, billionaires and multi-millionaires live a very different life from the average population. It’s why they are referred to as the ‘1%’. For many of them, $10,000 is as much as $0.10 to you and me, if not less. It all comes part and parcel of the millionaire mindset and it’s all relative to their net worth and income.

If somebody asked you why you drive a $40,000 car when they drive a $5,000 car, we’re sure your answer would be, “Because I can.” Why would someone pay $55K for sushi? Well, because they can!