Weddings are usually a good way to lose a lot of money, but an eccentric Honk Kong billionaire wants to help one lucky man turn a profit while getting hitched.
Cecil Chao Sze-tsung is offering $65 million to any man who can convince his daughter, Gigi Chao, to marry him.
The younger Chao is a 33-year-old socialite and manager of a modeling agency. The offer comes a week after she announced her marriage to her same-sex partner of seven years, Sean Eav.
"It is an inducement to attract someone who has the talent but not the capital to start his own business," Cecil Chao told the BBC. "I don't mind whether he is rich or poor. The important thing is that he is generous and kind-hearted. Gigi is a very good woman with both talents and looks. She is devoted to her parents, is generous and does volunteer work."
Chao insists his daughter is not gay and is not married, citing the fact that same-sex marriages are not recognized in Hong Kong. He is a well-known bachelor who has never married. Gigi is the eldest of his three children by three different women, and Chao claims to have bedded more than 10,000 women in his 76 years.
For her part, Gigi Chao seems bemused by her father's offer. "He has an interesting interpretation of me," she told the South China Morning Post. "Sometimes people just refuse to accept what they are told. Let time be the witness," she added.
Gigi Chao has been deluged by marriage proposals from men hoping to win both her hand and the jackpot. "In addition to more than 1,500 Facebook friend requests, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ followers, I am also getting so many e-mail marriage proposals it's seriously distracting," she said.
Her father is also receiving inquiries, resumes, and headshots from anxious men. "People send me letters, e-mails and faxes," Cecil Chao said. He has received about 100 applications, half of which are from overseas. "There are some who said they don't want the money, only the chance to know my daughter."
Though he didn't consult with his daughter before making his offer public, Chao has confirmed that he's not interested in forcing his daughter to marry anyone.
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