When it comes to tipping your cab driver, 15 to 20 percent is customary. Self-made billionaire Richard Branson exceeded that in a big way when he once left a cabbie the equivalent of £4,000.
“I was trying to get a taxi driver to stop to take an associate to the airport,” he recalled in 2006, when UK website This is Money asked about the biggest tip he had ever left. “He was a bit reluctant to go so I offered him an economy class ticket to New York.”
When that didn’t work, he doubled his offer to two economy class tickets but “even then he wasn't interested. He was even a bit hesitant when I offered him two upper class tickets which cost about £4,000. But he eventually agreed. London cabbies can be pretty demanding.”
Branson’s far from the only celebrity who leaves generous gratuities. Retired NBA star Shaquille O'Neal is “a big tipper,” he told Jimmy Kimmel in 2017, and . “I like to show people my appreciation. So when they come up to the table, I say, 'The quicker I get my order, the bigger your tip will be.' And then the food will come fast.
"Then, when we're getting ready to leave, I'll ask them: 'How much do you want?'” The most anyone had ever asked for was $4,000. "And I said, 'OK no problem,'" O'Neal recalled.
For a more realistic guide to tipping, check out everything you need to know about the money you give.
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