Photo by Two Paddles Axe and Leatherwork on Unsplash
I’ve got three credit cards. They all, obviously, have a balance because I was young and stupid once. I’m now older, still stupid, and still in debt.
Walter Cavanagh has 1,497 valid credit cards and $1.7 million line of credit. The guy collects credit cards like [whatever people collect these days] and actually has an incredibly good credit score because none of the cards are carrying a debt.
Here’s how it all started….
“I got started in the late 1960s” Cavanagh said. “Me and a buddy in Santa Clara, Calif., made a silly bet: the guy who could collect the most credit cards by the end of the year would win dinner. I was fresh from the Peace Corps and I got 143 cards by the end of the year. My friend gathered 138. He’s still a pharmacist — like I was back then — if only he had worked a little harder maybe he could have been the one here today.”
Still taking shots at his friend all these years later. Well played.
I only use one card and I pay it off at the end of the month. But you should see the length of my credit report — wow!”
He has credit cards from gas stations, airlines, bars and even a Texas ice cream store. They all have different limits. The card with the lowest credit limit would allow Cavanagh to charge a maximum of $50.
Cavanagh is also in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 1971, the Guinness people gave him the title “Mr. Plastic Fantastic” and he’s been the reigning credit card champ ever since.
He continues to open new accounts every day and only one company has ever denied Cavanagh a card — back in the 1970s — so good luck trying to break his record.
[via ABC News]