PayPal Gives Man $92 Quadrillion, Promptly Takes It Back

PayPal Accidentally Gives Man $92 QUADRILLION

For two mind-boggling minutes over the weekend, Chris Reynolds was a multi-quadrillionaire.

Checking his PayPal statement via email Saturday, Reynolds, a public relations executive, was floored by the amount of money that had suddenly and inexplicably appeared in his account.

He had been credited $92,233,720,368,547,800.

The Pennsylvania man was -- by an astronomical margin -- the richest man in the world.

"I was skeptical," the 56-year-old told the Los Angeles Times of his staggering windfall. "And my skepticism was validated within two minutes."

When Reynolds logged into his PayPal account, his balance was back to where it was supposed to be: $0.

PayPal admitted that it had wrongly credited Reynolds with the $92 quadrillion. To make amends, the company reportedly offered to donate an undisclosed amount of money to a charity of Reynolds' choice.

According to the Times, a PayPal spokesman did not explain how the mysterious transaction occurred, but did say that the company was investigating.

"This was obviously an error and [we at PayPal] appreciate that Mr. Reynolds understands this was the case," the company said in a statement, according to CNN.

Though his onetime riches have vanished, Reynolds says he's pretty sure he knows what he would've done with the money had he been allowed to keep it.

"I'm a very responsible guy," he told the Philadelphia Daily News. "I would pay the national debt down first. Then I would buy the Phillies, if I could get a great price."

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