A mystery tipper who has been leaving thousands of dollars in "Tips for Jesus" on restaurant receipts — more than $50,000 — may finally have been identified.
Gawker's Valley Wag says the mystery tipper is Jack Selby, a former vice president of PayPal, who has been surprising servers with tips ranging from $300 to $10,000, signing the receipts as simply "Tips for Jesus."
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The outrageous tips had gone viral and an
Instagram account was established to document the unbelievable tip sums.
"The PayPal Mafia, that group of legendary payment alumni who cashed out astronomically, isn't usually known for populist ploys," wrote Gawker's Sam Biddle on Wednesday. "Not Jack Selby! Since leaving PayPal, Selby has dabbled in both film production and venture capital. Now, his secret Instagram account has 'gone viral,' as the teens say, since followers started to spread the word of his mammoth gratuities. And people absolutely love him."
The big tipper has left tips of $5,000 tip on a bill for $84.05, $10,000 tip on a $2,979.42 bill, a $1,000 tip on a bill for $152.76, and a $3,000 tip on a bill for $373.36.
The stunning tips were hard to believe, even for the managers of the establishments.
"Oh, it happened – it definitely happened,"
Dan Schack, a manager at The Boundary in Chicago, told CreditCards.com. The establishment specializes in moderately priced burgers, tacos, and sandwiches.
Schack said one of his waitresses was serving a table of six people and came back to pick up the credit card slip and found a $3,000 tip on a $373.36 bill.
"It's absolutely legit," Schack told CreditCards.com. "We were skeptical when we saw it on the charge slip, but it went right through."
The big tipper struck again Nov. 20 at The Hungry Cat Hollywood, Calif., an upscale seafood restaurant. The tipper and two friends were served by a waitress with the bill coming to $265.96. A tip of $1,000 was left.
"I've worked in South Beach in Miami and I've seen some people leave large tips, but never anything like that," manager Becky Graziano told CreditCards.com, who was on duty when it happened. "She was surprised, that's for sure, but we're a 'pooled house,' so the servers share their tips with the house. It was a really good night for everyone."
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