# Most expensive private revenge **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2018, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330 "2018-09-14T11:15:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/21 "2018-09-16T12:37:39Z")
> [@blob](#): > > My nanna painted her house a hideous shade of purple, but only because she liked it, not out of spite. That reminds me of one, not the most expensive revenge, possibly a contender for best value for money actually. Near where I used to live, there’s a town with a viewpoint described by some famous poet as the finest view in the country. In the middle of that view, maybe 3 miles from the viewpoint, is a farm. Some years back, the lady living there decided she wanted to expand the small decorative garden at the back of the farmhouse a bit, just a few metres, into one of the fields. Legally, this requires a change of use permit, but something like that is normally a simple box check, who would object to a farm using a few metres of land to grow flowers instead of grass? So, her and her husband sent in the application, like they were supposed to, and… it was refused, due to the local preservation society claiming that any change to the historic ‘finest view’ would be an eyesore, even a barely visible 3 miles away change from grass to flowers. Guess what you don’t need a permit for? Repainting a barn. In fact, if you want, you can paint it like a drunk toddler with a rainbow obsession. They didn’t do the whole barn like that, just the bit pointing towards the viewpoint, the bit they can see from the house is fine 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/22 "2018-09-16T16:11:48Z")
Bit like this one in 2017 London > **[Court rules woman can keep her red and white striped townhouse](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/24/red-white-striped-house-zipporah-lisle-mainwaring)** > > Judge quashes order to repaint London house, in win for property developer who denied choosing colour scheme out of spite Like the bit where one stripe was left incomplete. Touche. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/23 "2018-09-17T04:52:26Z")
Probably some of the most expensive private acts of revenge are hidden from public view - both parties too embarrassed to mention what happened. Filthy-rich people get drunk (or whatever) and do very stupid things, just like everyone else - it’s just that both the intoxicants and the stupid actions are ones that cost far more money. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/24 "2018-09-17T15:57:31Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > In 2006, Dr. Nicholas Bartha [blew up](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/nyregion/16cnd-doctor.html) his multimillion dollar Manhattan townhouse, with him inside, rather than allow his wife to get it in the divorce. Seems to be a popular pastime among zillionaires. From [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=861864) > [@Jesus, Mary and Joseph that's bad restoration!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-mary-and-joseph-thats-bad-restoration/820978/23): > > Anyone remember when Sheik Mohammad Al-Fassi painted the statues in his Beverly Hills mansion flesh tone, with pubic hair? [Link](http://alisonmartino.blog/2017/07/08/the-sheiks-house-in-beverly-hills/). Al-Fassi’s mansion mysteriously burned down while he was in the middle of a messy divorce. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/25 "2018-09-17T19:46:53Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > This is my vote for best revenge. But not at all expensive for the **avenger** , which I believe disqualifies it for the OP’s conditions. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/26 "2018-09-17T21:48:58Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > Probably back in the historical era when a white elephant was a real concept instead of a phrase? Not THAT expensive, not for the giver. But when social rules dictate that you can’t give away or dispose of a certain gift, and that gift has costly upkeep… A bit like an average modern American being given the (non-transferrable, non-discardable, usage-prohibited, maintenance inspected yearly) gift of the USS Nimitz, after it’s decommissioned. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/27 "2018-09-18T02:21:59Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I remember a story about a wealthy man who in his will left his remaining gold bullion, silver certificates and his yacht to some relative he actually despised. > > Thing is, he didn’t actually have any of those things and the relative went nuts spending a considerable amount of time, money, and other resources trying to find them. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > This is my vote for best revenge. Yeah, that’s genius when you can get the target to do most of the work in worsening his own lot. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/28 "2018-09-18T04:08:20Z")
Several years ago, the library I volunteer at received a large donation of art and other rare books from a local college professor. In time, we sold a lot of them at auction, and one of them sold for $2,000, which was a pleasant surprise. I later found out that the professor may have donated them so his colleagues wouldn’t have access to them. Someone who worked at that college said that while he was in another country on a sabbatical, a rival professor gathered up priceless artifacts like 1,000-year-old Chinese scrolls, that kind of thing, and had a big bonfire. The professor had no recourse, because he couldn’t prove that he owned them, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/29 "2018-09-18T11:56:07Z")
Spite houses may not be the most expensive, but they sure ain’t cheap. > **[Spite house](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spite_house)** > > A spite house is a building constructed or substantially modified to irritate neighbors or any party with land stakes. Because long-term occupation is not the primary purpose of these houses, they frequently sport strange and impractical structures. > Spite houses may create obstructions, such as blocking out light or blocking access to neighboring buildings, or they can be flagrant symbols of defiance. Although, in the US, homeowners generally have no right to views, light, or air, neighbors can ... ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/30 "2018-09-18T14:14:00Z")
> [@Textual\_Innuendo](#): > > Still, there’s got to be some better example out there among royals or emperors - I’m sure petty revenge or rivalry has literally cost kingdoms somewhere down the line. Making twin brothers co-counts didn’t work out too well for one of them; officially, [Ramón Berenguer II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Berenguer_II,_Count_of_Barcelona) died in a hunting accident leaving his brother [Berenguer Ramon II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berenguer_Ramon_II,_Count_of_Barcelona) as sole Count of Barcelona. Unofficially damn but hunting accidents were so frequent among royalty of the time that if I’d been a queen I would have asked my husband to take up embroidery. Note that at the time Barcelona was an independent realm: neither a Prince needs to be a King’s son, nor a Count or Duke is necesarily some King’s vassal. And while it didn’t at the time cost him the realm, part of the reason [Ramiro II of Aragon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramiro_II_of_Aragon) eventually gave up the crown was regret over the massacre of the nobles who’d tried to ignore his authority. But that’s not really private, I think. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/31 "2018-09-18T14:43:01Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > In terms of relative wealth destroyed/given away, not absolute, the potlatches of the coastal Pacific Northwest people’s were infamous. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch) has a quote: > > So if a cheiftain had an enemy with the same or lesser wealth than him, invite him to a potlatch and give/destroy everything, forcing the enemy to give/destroy all his wealth. > > Canada banned them for a while due to the anti-Christian nature of the system. You just don’t give your stuff away! Right. The northwest coast natives had a very hierarchical system, so some chiefs could get very “rich”, if that concept meant anything in the days before money. But without the equivalent of money there was no way to store wealth. You could only personally use so many blankets or cedar chests or decorated canoes at once - so the socially acceptable thing was to establish status by giving away what you had… and start accumulating all over again. Rinse and repeat. Of course, as a status thing, that meant anyone else had to do something similar to keep up with the Joneses. The problem was that attitude was carried over to the later monied society - natives who managed to earn money working, or selling their produce, then instead of saving for the future and building their personal household wealth, instead still tended to compete to give it all away with wild parties (since consumables were included in the giveaways). This activity running counter to the norms of white society offended the authorities - missionaries and government - who wanted the natives to act like white people. When it go to the point where natives were ordering large numbers of items like washing machines and other appliances in order to simply give them away - the authorities decided this was too much and stepped in. Goods they though were destined to potlach were regularly seized. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/32 "2018-09-18T14:56:50Z")
Didn’t [J Paul Getty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Paul_Getty_Trust) leave the vast majority of his money to his foundation as sort of a public FU to his family? ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/33 "2018-09-18T17:25:48Z")
The Getty foundation is much larger, but it reminded me of Leona Helmsley’s will. I know it’s much smaller in scale than the question in the OP, but still worth a mention: 12 million to her dog Trouble, 5M each to her brother and 2 grandchildren, nothing to 2 other grandchildren, for “reasons that are known to them,” according to the will. > **[Leona Helmsley Leaves $12M To Her Dog](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/leona-helmsley-leaves-12m-to-her-dog/)** > > Will Of Late New York Hotel Queen Leaves Nothing To Two Grandchildren ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/34 "2018-09-18T18:15:28Z")
It seems to me that any revenge you get only after you die is the cheapest form of revenge. It costs you nothing. I came back to post about a self-made tractor manufacturer who decided to buy a Ferrari with his hard-earned money. Unfortunately, the Ferrari he got was loud and uncomfortable and his clutch kept failing. He told Enzo Ferrari about the issues but, rather than help a dissatisfied customer, Enzo insulted him and told him that his lousy driving caused all his car troubles. That customer launched his own car company to compete with Ferrari. And thus, the lowly tractor maker Ferrucio Lamborghini got his revenge on Ferrari . > **[Lamborghini Cars Were A Result Of A Tractor Company Owner Being Insulted by...](http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/03/lamborghini-cars-were-a-result-of-a-tractor-company-owners-frustration-with-ferrari/)** > > Today I found out the creator of Lamborghini S.p.A. originally owned a tractor company, Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A., which produced tractors from surplus military hardware.  He decided to get into making cars as a result of frustrations he had... It seems Ferrucio made some money on the deal, so maybe this too is cheap revenge. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/35 "2018-09-18T19:29:51Z")
Generic wills leaving the “normal” heirs without anything don’t really seem to cost anybody anything. So if Getty left all his money to a foundation, it doesn’t cost him much and the heirs aren’t out any money from their own pockets. Now, flushing the money down the toilet may be another matter. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/36 "2018-09-18T19:36:22Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I remember a story about a wealthy man who in his will left his remaining gold bullion, silver certificates and his yacht to some relative he actually despised. > > Thing is, he didn’t actually have any of those things and the relative went nuts spending a considerable amount of time, money, and other resources trying to find them. This sounds very much like the plot of a Frederick Forsyth short story, _A Careful Man_. It’s well worth the read. It was also adapted as one half of a TV movie in 1984. [Two by Forsyth (TV Movie 1984) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418264/) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/37 "2018-09-18T19:43:22Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Generic wills leaving the “normal” heirs without anything don’t really seem to cost anybody anything. So if Getty left all his money to a foundation, it doesn’t cost him much and the heirs aren’t out any money from their own pockets. > > Now, flushing the money down the toilet may be another matter. I think that many in the Getty family would [profoundly disagree with your assertion that they were not greatly damaged](http://fortune.com/1985/01/21/the-war-between-the-gettys/) and that they didn’t spend a large amount of money contesting the will. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/38 "2018-09-18T21:40:58Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > I think that many in the Getty family would [profoundly disagree with your assertion that they were not greatly damaged](http://fortune.com/1985/01/21/the-war-between-the-gettys/) and that they didn’t spend a large amount of money contesting the will. A lot of that is post J. Paul Getty’s will and involves later generations. Plus no one is forcing anyone to contest a will. J. Paul Getty is not wasting _his_ money (directly) and has no choice in that matter. He’s dead. Stupid stuff other people do after you die is on them. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/39 "2018-09-19T04:31:47Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > The northwest coast natives had a very hierarchical system, so some chiefs could get very “rich”, if that concept meant anything in the days before money. But without the equivalent of money there was no way to store wealth. You could only personally use so many blankets or cedar chests or decorated canoes at once - so the socially acceptable thing was to establish status by giving away what you had… and start accumulating all over again. Rinse and repeat. Of course, as a status thing, that meant anyone else had to do something similar to keep up with the Joneses. > > The problem was that attitude was carried over to the later monied society - natives who managed to earn money working, or selling their produce, then instead of saving for the future and building their personal household wealth, instead still tended to compete to give it all away with wild parties (since consumables were included in the giveaways). This activity running counter to the norms of white society offended the authorities - missionaries and government - who wanted the natives to act like white people. When it go to the point where natives were ordering large numbers of items like washing machines and other appliances in order to simply give them away - the authorities decided this was too much and stepped in. Goods they though were destined to potlach were regularly seized. Some of the Southwestern tribe members still do this. ---
**Author:** ![ladyliz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac91a4/32.png) [@ladyliz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyliz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330/40 "2018-09-19T06:09:15Z")
I don’t know how weird it can be when people really spend money on all this stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-expensive-private-revenge/821330.md?page=3)