‘Bankruptcy” is a surprisingly amorphous term. For poor people, it means not having any money. For corporations and the super-wealthy it means a nifty legal strategy that can shield their riches from lawsuits. And for Rudy Giuliani, the disgraced former mayor of New York City and personal attorney of Donald Trump, it means being forced to try to subsist on a measly $43,000 (£34,200) a month.
Half a million dollars in spending money a year might seem a princely sum to the common man, but “Sir” Rudy (recipient of an honorary knighthood) is anything but. We’re talking about a gentleman with elevated tastes here: a bon vivant who, during a legal battle with his estranged third wife, was accused of spending $7,000 on fountain pens and $12,000 on cigars over a five-month period. In that same timeframe, his ex-wife’s lawyer claimed he spent $286,000 on his alleged lover, $165,000 on personal travel and $447,938 “for his own enjoyment”. That’s a lot of enjoyment.
