Alan Sugar blasts American Express after he is denied credit limit increase
By Sean O'Grady, Press Association Deputy Entertainment Editor
British billionaire and TV star Alan Sugar has called American Express “a bunch of idiots” after he was denied an increase on his credit limit.
The Apprentice star, 79, who has a reported net worth of £1.13 billion (€1.33 billion), said he spoke to someone who was aware of his “financial status”, but it made no difference.
Posting on X, he wrote: “I spent an hour on the phone with American Express. I was past (sic) to 4 different people.
“I was asking for an increase in my credit limit. Finally I got to speak to a person in the UK at Brighton who knew who I was and my financial status. However my request was refused due to their system.”
Sugar received some unimpressed responses from his followers, including one who asked “why do you expect royal treatment for yourself?”.
They added: “The general public faces the same fate every day. On the one hand, you try to champion your council-housing background, while on the other, you’re now trying to flaunt your status. The height of hypocrisy.”
Sugar responded with: “I AM NOT MOANING JUST EXPOSING WHAT A BUNCH OF IDIOTS AMEX ARE.”
Another person asked him why, if he is a billionaire, he needs credit.
Sugar replied: “DO PRACTICE BEING AN IDIOT. I DON’T WALK AROUND WITH BAGS FULL OF CASH. I NEED A CREDIT CARD TO BUY THINGS.”
Another X user corrected Sugar on the spelling in his original post and he replied: “OH YOU ARE SUCH A HERO. I WISHED I WAS AS CLEVER AS YOU.”
American Express has been contacted for comment.
Sugar, born in Hackney, east London, lived in a council flat in his youth.
He left school at 16 and briefly worked in the civil service as a statistician at the UK's Ministry of Education.
He set up electronics company Amstrad at the age of 21 and found commercial success by mass-producing affordable consumer electronics.
He sold his stake in the company to BSkyB in 2007 for £125 million.
Sugar has had several other business interests, including his property investment firm Amsprop and a stake in Tottenham Hotspur, which he sold for £47 million.
