Relational Con Artistry & Coming Home
Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die.
How do you sell the Eiffel Tower?
In May of 1925, Victor Lustig, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Postal Services and Telecommunications in France sent an urgent message to all scrap metal companies in the area to meet him immediately. Only six showed up. There was an elaborate meal full of wine as Lustig explained that the government needed to knock down the Eiffel Tower and scrap it. However, it was a huge secret and a deal needed to be made that evening.
Lustig then began the bidding process for this valuable government contract. Within the group was the owner of a newer company and this was an opportunity to put his business on the map. He won the bid for $1 million dollars.
There was a slight problem. Lustig didn’t work for the government, there was no such thing as the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Postal Services and Telecommunications, and none of this was actually real.
Victor Lustig was a con artist and this was one of the largest scams to ever happen in history. Lustig actually sold the Eiffel Tower twice. As soon as he got the money, he left for the United States.
What makes this possible? How is someone capable of selling the Eiffel Tower, not logistically…
