The con man who sold the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal twice

HostIt's funny to think about now, but back in the mid-twenties, a lot of people in Paris absolutely hated the Eiffel Tower. They saw it as this giant, rusting eyesore that was way past its welcome, and there was a lot of talk about just tearing the whole thing down.

HostHow did a con man take that local grumbling and turn it into a deal to sell the tower for scrap metal?

GuestWell, you have to look at a man named Victor Lustig. He went by the title of the Count, and he was an expert at finding what we might call a public secret. This is something that everyone kind of knows or suspects, but no one is talking about out loud in an official way. In 1925, the tower was in bad shape. It was only built to stay up for twenty years to begin with, and by this point, it needed tons of money for repairs. Lustig saw that Parisians were already primed to believe the government couldn't afford it anymore. He didn't have to invent a story from scratch; he just took a rumor that was already floating around and gave it a little push. He got some fake government paper made up and reached out to the biggest scrap metal dealers in the city. He invited them to a meeting at the Hotel de Crillon, which was one of the fanciest, most high class places in Paris. He told them the whole thing was a top secret state matter.

HostBut surely people would check his papers? I mean, you can’t just sell the most famous building in the world out of a hotel room without someone asking for a real ID.

GuestThat's where Lustig was so smart. He used something called prestige bias. He knew that if he acted like a bored, high level government boss and held the meeting in a luxury hotel, the dealers would be too intimidated to ask for his ID. He wasn't acting like a salesman trying to make a pitch. He acted like a man who had a messy, annoying job to do for the state and just wanted to get it over with quietly. He told them the government wanted to avoid a public outcry, so the sale had to stay hush-hush. One of the dealers was a man named Andre Poisson. He was rich, but he was new to the scene and really wanted to be seen as a big player in Paris. Lustig could tell Poisson was nervous, but instead of trying to sell him harder, Lustig did something very strange. He started complaining about how little money he made as a government worker. He was basically hinting that he wanted a bribe.

HostIf a guy from the government asks me for a bribe, I'm running the other way. That sounds like a huge red flag that the whole thing is a scam.

GuestIt feels like it should be a warning sign, but for Poisson, it was the thing that made him trust Lustig the most. In his mind, a perfectly honest government worker seemed less likely than a corrupt one who was just looking out for himself. To Poisson, the request for a bribe was proof that Lustig was the real deal. It was a masterstroke. Poisson didn't just pay the bid for the scrap metal; he also paid Lustig a massive bribe on top of it just to make sure he won the contract. Lustig took the cash and immediately hopped on a train to Vienna. He kept an eye on the news, waiting to see his face on the front page, but nothing happened. Poisson was so embarrassed that he had been tricked, and so worried about the fact that he tried to bribe a public official, that he never told the police. He just took the loss and stayed silent.

HostThat seems like pushing your luck way too far to go back and try it again. Why not just take the money and vanish forever?

GuestLustig realized that if there was no report of the crime, then as far as the world was concerned, the crime never even happened. He waited about six months and then he actually went back to Paris. He used the exact same fake papers and the same fancy hotel to host another meeting with a different group of scrap dealers. He actually managed to sell the tower a second time to a new victim. But this is where the luck runs out. You can’t repeat a scam like that forever. The second victim wasn't as worried about his pride as Poisson was, and he went straight to the authorities. Lustig had to flee to the United States just as the police were closing in on him. He ended up becoming one of the most wanted men in America for a bunch of other big frauds later on.

GuestLustig got away for a long time, but he showed that a lie only works as long as the person who falls for it's too ashamed to speak up.

HostThat giant iron tower is still standing in the middle of Paris today, but it's wild to think it only stayed there because one man felt too much like a fool to tell the world he tried to buy it for parts.