Audi CEO Rupert Stadler and about 30 other Audi managers decided to get lit on the company’s dime. Except when the Dieselgate-hobbled Volkswagen Group caught wind of the outrageous bill, they told Stadler and other organizers to pony up, Germany’s Bild Am Sonntag reports.
Volkswagen did some auditing recently (probably for obvious reasons), and came across an expense for an extravagant party at a hotel called Rothehof in Wolfsburg, the site reports.
The party, partly organized by Stadler, was not cheap. Thirty Audi managers decided to have what Bild Am Sonntag calls a “Beer Contest,” pitting up folks from Rheinland against those from Bavaria presumably in a competition to see who can chug more of Germany’s favorite beverage. The shindig included plenty of Helles and Kölsch beer, and the organizers flew in a traditional Bavarian brass band and another band from Cologne. On top of the beer and the bands, the event also featured appearances from two well-known comedians, making this rager cost at least $14,000.
I say “at least,” because that $14,000 figure (actually 12,500 Euro), is just what Audi’s CEO Rupert Stadler had to pay. Bild Am Sonntag doesn’t specify if any of the other organizers had to drop coin after VW decided not to sanction the party.
I’m not exactly sure why VW decided not to foot the bill on this “team building” activity, because—let’s be honest—a $14,000 party is probably not unusual among auto executives, but now’s not exactly the best time to be pulling that kind of thing at VW.
It’s not a good look.
h/t: Reuters