London-based real estate mogul Vincent Tchenguiz bet on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to win the election and netted about $1.5 million in the process.
Betting on the results of the election is illegal in the United States, but it was the “single biggest betting event ever” for some British gambling sites, according to Metro.co.uk.
Tchenguiz put down a bet of £350,000 with British gambling sites Betfair and Spreadex. The property guru netted a £850,000 profit on the wager, Metro reports. He collected £1.2 million in total, if you include the initial wagered amount. That translates to about a $1.5 million return on a $440,000 bet.
“I’m surprised by how everybody is stunned that [Trump] actually won,” Tchenguiz told Metro. “I didn’t think that it was so black and white. But people are so shocked — I should have got much better odds.”
The London-based billionaire was watching the election on CNN, and Clinton looked like she would “take it early,” he told Metro.co.uk. “Then I switched on to Fox News and I thought no, she’s not winning, it’s almost equal. So I carried on watching a little longer.”
Tchenguiz wouldn’t say whether or not he was happy with the results. Most people would be thrilled to win such an amount of money, but $1.5 million didn’t seem to have much of an affect on the billionaire.