Weird World News: Money, money, money”¦ makes us act a bit funny

PHUKET: Men of money made headlines this week with outrageously-outlandish expenditures, financial flops and the odd smart investment.

Sweet heavens… how much is the dessert?

THE record for the world’s most expensive dessert was gobbled up by a British diamond merchant this week.

Carl Weininger spent UK£22,000 (about1.063 million baht) on a chocolate pudding with strawberry champagne caviar and glazed with edible gold for his 60th birthday party.

The reason: He was feeling a bit down after being dumped by his girlfriend and wanted a “pick-me up”, Sky.com reported.

Resembling an Easter egg, the chocolate pudding has broken all previous records thanks to its exorbitantly priced list of ingredients.

Instead of the juicy cherry on top of the dessert, a two-carat diamond sits atop a handmade chocolate flower.

Weininger bought the cake from Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel in Windermere, England, and the culinary team is now waiting for their dessert to take its place in the Guinness World Records.

The previous record was held by New York’s Serendipity Restaurant with an edible gold pudding costing a mere US$25,000 (about 580,000 baht). Cheapskates.

Days of blunder

FEW people will be feeling sorry for the owners of the 14 supercars involved in Japan’s most expensive motorway crash this week.

The 60-year-old driver of the Ferrari who caused the daisy-chain crash admitted to police he was speeding.

He is being investigated in relation to possible charges of negligent driving resulting in injury.

Japanese newspapers reported that 10 drivers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Twelve of the 14 cars involved in the accident were supercars, including eight Ferraris, two Mercedes and a Lamborghini.

The group of self-employed car enthusiasts was travelling from Kyushu to Hiroshima when the accident happened.

Among the vehicles were two Ferrari F430s, two 360 Modenas, two F355s, a Lamborghini Diablo and a Nissan GTR.

The damage was estimated at UK£2.6mn (about 125.63mn baht) and thought to be Japan’s most expensive motorway crash.

Yamaguchi Prefectural Police are currently quizzing all 14 drivers and their passengers in relation to all the vehicles involved in the crash as part of their investigation.

Asset managers win lottery

HERE are three guys who know their line of business: How to make a sound investment.

A trio of asset managers from Connecticut won a Powerball lottery jackpot of US$254mn (about 7.834 billion baht) after investing just US$1 (about 31 baht) in their ticket this week.

Tim Davidson, Brandon Lacoff and Greg Skidmore, of Belpointe Asset Management, split a ticket they bought at a gas station three ways, Reuters reported.

The winning digits were 12, 14, 34, 39, 46, with Powerball number 36.

The prize was the 12th-largest jackpot in Powerball history, according to the Connecticut Lottery Corp. After taxes, the trio will take home about US$104mn (about 3.2bn baht).

It pays to know when and where to invest.

Remember to tune in next week for more of the Phuket Gazette‘s new Weird World News round-up.