billionaire bait
n. An item designed to appeal to a person who is extremely rich.
Examples
2016
The gorgeous fuselage is billionaire bait, but the bravura style is wedded to pure function.
—Lawrence Ulrich, “2016's Top Ten Tech Cars: Ford GT,” IEEE Spectrum, March 30, 2016
2015
The house was classic billionaire bait: outrageous candy room, a garage for about a million vehicles with a car turntable, a replica of the Transformer Bumblebee that was about as tall as a human, a handful of arty, chrome-covered weapons, an infinity pool.
—Bianca Barragan, “How Two Real Estate Agents Spent $300k Getting Notch to Buy His Bonkers $70-Million Mansion,” Curbed Los Angeles, July 13, 2015
2014
There was more billionaire bait inside: Jeff Koons's stainless steel Jim Beam — J.B. Turner Train ($33.8 million); a big, reddish Richter that would not fit in anything less than a ­McMansion ($29.3 million); another oh-so-tempting Bacon triptych.
—Jay Fielden, “Another Day, Another Record-Breaking Art Auction,” Town & Country, November 14, 2014
2011 (earliest)
At Per Se, the Red Rice Ale sits on the wine list in the lofty company of $9,000 bottles of Bordeaux and other billionaire bait.
—Mark Garrison, “The Portland of the Far East,” Slate, June 15, 2011
Notes
Just in case you're tempted to Google this phrase, I give you fair warning: Another sense of the term refers to a woman who is young, single, and beautiful, and who is, therefore, "bait" to hook any passing billionaire. *facepalm* It appears that a number of romance novels have used the phrase as a title or subtitle, so you'll see lots of steamy book covers. Probably NSFW.
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