OPINION

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By Maddax Winston-Evans

What would you buy if you had access to millions of dollars? For some celebrities, this question has been answered with some crazy purchases. Currently, outrageous purchases are seen as a flex of wealth to some, but personally, I find them ridiculous. Most recently, famous hip hop artist Lil Uzi Vert spent 24 million dollars on a diamond and had it embedded into his forehead. When asked why he had the diamond put in his forehead, Uzi responded with “$24 million on a ring is the stupidest idea because I’m gonna look down and that ring ain’t gon’ be there.” While the ring may be a stupid idea, so is a forehead diamond. While this purchase is more outlandish than others, there are plenty of examples of poor money management by celebrities.

It is a known fact that young drivers are more likely to be involved in vehicle accidents, but this didn’t stop rapper Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, from spending $360,000 on a Mercedes Maybach for his son on his 16th birthday in 2010. As if this one supercar wasn’t enough, his son received another car for his 17th birthday, but this time it was a Mercedes Maybach limousine. This isn’t the only outlandish purchase that a celebrity has made for their child. Jay-Z bought his daughter Blue Ivy a doll that cost $80,000. The Game went even further than Jay-Z and bought his son a diamond-studded remote control car that cost $98,376.

Mercedes Maybach Limousine. Photo credit: Marco Verch.

The two main things that these celebrities spend their money on are cars and accessories. One purchase that I found particularly ridiculous is rapper Birdman’s $8 million one-of-a-kind Maybach Exelero. Ownership of expensive cars shows off one’s wealth. However, it baffles me as to why celebrities build up such large collections of cars, because you can only drive one at a time. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is another celebrity with a love for cars. Not only is his approximately 80-car collection worth between $50 and $150 million dollars, but his car garage is worth $1.5 million by itself.

Birdman’s Mercedes Maybach Exelero. Photo credit: flickr user nahtanoj.

One of Jerry Seinfeld’s Porsches. Photo credit: flickr user Mindy.

Another extravagant item celebrities spend lots of money on is accessories. Rapper Nicki Minaj is known for wearing a variety of hair weaves, with one of them costing $75,000. This piece came from a girl in India who grew out her hair and kept it very healthy, with the intent to sell it. Some accessories purchased by celebrities include chains and jewelry. Rapper Soulja Boy managed to combine his love for cars with his love for jewelry by buying a chain with a Lamborghini on it that could also function as a functional remote control car. This chain seems ridiculous, especially since the famous rapper has much more important things to do than play with a toy. The most expensive chain bought by a celebrity was rapper Rick Ross’s chain of himself. The chain has Ross’s face on it covered in diamonds, and it cost him $1.5 million.

Although many celebrities seem to be living their best lives with their thriving bank accounts, money management has also been the downfall for some. Scott Storch was a successful record producer who became addicted to cocaine. He spent $30 million on cocaine over the course of three years before going into therapy. Poor money management also caused problems for Birdman, when his Miami mansion that cost more than $10 million was taken by the bank after he missed numerous tax payments. Even with all that money, he couldn’t manage to pay for his house.

This is quite the opposite for rapper Drake. After getting multiple noise complaints from his neighbors, he decided to buy their house so they would stop complaining. This might be the most petty $2.85 million to ever be spent.

Another wild purchase by a celebrity was Lady Gaga’s ghost detector. She spent $50,000 on the detector and hired a team of ghost specialists to track down the ghost, named Ryan, that had apparently been following her around. While this purchase is hard to believe, it does not compare to a purchase made by Martin Shkreli, known in some media circles as the “Pharma Bro.” Shkreli, a former pharmaceuticals CEO who is now in prison for securities fraud, spent $2 million on a Wu-Tang Clan rap album, but the catch was that he was the only person allowed to listen to it. After many documents and signatures, he bought the album and was the sole person who could enjoy it. This is by far the most ridiculous celebrity purchase of them all.

The box that Shkreli’s exclusive Wu Tang album came in. Photo credit: Wutangcashew.