Originally Posted by
hobo13
My guess is that he considered paying for the Residences ticket himself. He could write it off as a business expense. And it would definitely generate a lot of attention for his brand. But then it would appear that if he could just blow $20k, it would lead to the inevitable discussion and criticism of just how much he makes. (Or the accusations that his parents self-fund.... a claim I find absurd.)
And if he didn't pull the trigger quickly, somebody else would. And in this game, there's no value in being #2.
So he was between a rock (fund it himself), a hard place (Kickstart it), and a gaping hole on his A380 checklist!
Don't know how it is now but he did previously state that his parents had bank rolled his travels.