Billionaire pays for $170m Modigliani with credit card

In today's trending, taxi-driver-turned-billionaire puts a Modigliani on his Amex card, man stopped for smuggling lighter onto plane in his mouth, and driver's parking space is so tight she has to climb out of sunroof.

"Nu Couche" by Amedeo Modigliani, a painting of an outstretched nude woman, sold at a Christie's auction on Nov 9 for $170.4 million to Liu Yiqian. [Provided to China Daily]

Chinese billionaire pays for $170m Modigliani with credit card

After putting a $36 million tea cup from the Ming Dynasty on his AmEx last year, Liu Yiqian, a Chinese billionaire, has just used his American Express card to pay for a $170 million Modigliani painting, Xinhua reported on Last Saturday.

The 52-year-old Liu, who used to be a taxi driver and transformed into one of China's super-rich, is a famous art collector and won the art auction earlier this month at Christie's in New York.

What is really remarkable is that by paying with his American Express card, he has now accrued $170 million reward points, which means he and his family can fly free for the rest of their lives.

"We are on a one-year payment plan for the painting," said Liu's wife, as quoted by New York Times.

"In theory, it's possible to put a ($170 million purchase) on an American Express card", a spokeswoman from American Express was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. "It is based on our relationship with that individual card member and these decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, based on our knowledge of their spending patterns," she said.

According to Xinhua International, a Xinhua mobile app, the American Express Centurion Card Liu has is an invitation-only card that is given only to AmEx's biggest spending clients. The card has no official credit limit.

Next up: man tries to smuggle lighter onto plane in mouth.