Playboy’s boasting backfires
ROME A 50-year-old Italian playboy known for his extravagant lifestyle – chronicled almost daily on Instagram – has been pilloried on social media after having his yacht and villas confiscated over an unpaid 10 million bank debt.
Gianluca Vacchi’s tattooed, sculpted and bronzed body has been on display in the company of beautiful women and the trappings of the super-rich, but social media critics say he may have attempted a billionaire’s lifestyle on the more modest income of a millionaire.
Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore reported that Vacchi could have easily settled the debt by selling some shares in his hugely profitable family company, IMA, which manufactures machines for processing and packaging pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, tea and coffee.
Vacchi says the debt is actually 8.5m, and he has been contesting its original terms in court.
He says he built his fortune by working hard between the ages of 25 and 45 but realised he had something better to do with his talents after having an existential crisis.
The author of a book titled Enjoy, Vacchi sums up his philosophy: ‘‘You only get one life, and I’m not afraid to let people see that I’m enjoying it.’’ He owns yachts, classic cars and private jets, and holds poolside parties in exotic locations in the company of a former Miss Colombia.
He also spends his time studying history, philosophy and theology with a private tutor, when he is not spinning discs as a DJ.
Vacchi attributes his rude good health to regularly freezing his body in a ‘‘cryo-sauna’’ at minus 110 degrees C.
He promotes his favourite business enterprise – himself – packaged in the form of ‘‘ GV Lifestyle’’, but his plight has not elicited enormous public sympathy.
His altered image has been posted by social media users, depicting him riding a humble pedalo and queueing at a job centre. A new Facebook page offers to ‘‘Find Gianluca Vacchi a job’’.
A Twitter user said that viewing Vacchi’s birthday celebrations had given him the idea that ‘‘the asteroid should come and extinguish us as soon as possible’’. The Times