Chinese billionaire eats $6 million banana (VIDEO)

Chinese-born cryptocurrency investor Justin Sun has eaten the banana-based artwork he bought at an auction last week for $6.2 million. Video from the open event in Hong Kong where he chewed his purchase on Friday has been shared online. 

Titled ‘Comedian’, the conceptual work was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan in 2019 and consisted of a banana duct-taped to a wall. It was sold at Sotheby’s in New York on November 21, with Sun among seven bidders.

The entrepreneur, who actually received a banana and some duct tape, pledged to eat the fruit “as part of this unique artistic experience.” 

“Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork’s history,” Sun said on Friday.

“It’s much better than other bananas,” Sun told the crowd after his first bite. “It’s really quite good.” He also drew parallels between conceptual art and cryptocurrency.

The banana that Sun ate was not the same one that the creator of the artwork used back in 2019. After winning the auction, the entrepreneur was provided with instructions on how to present and treat the art installation, with the key part being to regularly replace the fruit. The purchase was accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

The banana that Sun paid $6.2 million for at Sotheby’s was reportedly bought for 25 cents from a fruit stall in Manhattan tended to by a vendor who works for $12 an hour.

On Thursday, Sun pledged to buy 100,000 bananas from the stall and said the fruit would be distributed worldwide as “a celebration of the beautiful connection between everyday life and art.”