Millionaire Hospitalized After Schlocky Spending Spree

A wealthy Manhattan businessman was hospitalized in a mental institution after spending $20 million on ice-cream scoops, barbecue tools, scented sachets, and other gewgaws at the New York International Gift Fair, reports the New York Post. Ed Bazinet, who struck it rich selling ceramic figurines, went from booth to booth ordering thousands of tchotchkes.

“He’d just say, ‘Give me 1,000 of this and 1,000 of that!’” says a vendor. “It was fun while it lasted, but the poor guy. We wish him well," adds the president of a company that sold Bazinet $1.6 million in soap and clothes hanger covers. Right before the New York event, the 68-year-old Bazinet reportedly ordered $39.4 million worth of similar products at a trade show in Paris. (More Ed Bazinet stories.)