The $99 million ATM receipt

Who left a receipt at an East Hamptons ATM showing a $99 million savings balance? And isn't there a better use for that cash?

By Kim Peterson Jun 30, 2011 2:40PM

Apparently, someone in the tony East Hamptons enclave forgot to grab the receipt after making a $400 ATM withdrawal. A pretty common occurrence.

What is unusual about this transaction is the available balance shown on the receipt: $99,864,731.94.

Are you kidding me? Someone has nearly $100 million just sitting around in a savings account? (And still gets stuck with a $2.75 ATM fee?) Surely there must be a better use for that cash than having it doing nothing in a savings account. So to whom does it belong? I'll give you everyone's best guess after this video report about the receipt.

The Dealbreaker blog, which first posted the picture, thinks the account owner is none other than David Tepper, a fund manager whose firm made about $7 billion in profit in 2009. Tepper was reportedly on track to take home about $2.5 billion of that for himself.

Investing experts say you should keep at least 5% of your portfolio in cash. So if Tepper does have a portfolio of $2.5 billion or more, then keeping $100 million in a cash savings account is just about right. You know how those bills can pile up in the East Hamptons.

By the way, Tepper reportedly joked after the withdrawal that he "hadn't used an ATM since Lehman," Dealbreaker reports. Since Lehman Bros. declared bankruptcy in 2008, that would mean he hasn't used an ATM in three years.

Update: When contacted by The New York Post, Tepper said he wasn't in the Hamptons in June at all (although he does own property there). He laughed off the report, saying he would never be so financially half-witted.

"I would never do something as irresponsible as leaving $100 million in a savings account," he told the Post.

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2Comments

Best

Jun 30, 2011 4:44PM

DUMB LIKE A FOX!!!!!

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Someone

Oct 20, 2011 9:47PM

Who would leave a receipt in an ATM at all with all the fraud going on? It was nice to look at 99 million plus. Could claim it as mine. Nice thought

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