Internet tycoons left red-faced by £30 tab

Published on 04/02/2006 01:02

THE billionaire owners of Google, the internet search engine, were caught short in Rio when a local restaurant rejected their credit card.

Google's owners, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had spent three days in Brazil visiting a large ethanol plant and meeting local software engineers and members of Google's Brazilian office.

On Wednesday, they dined on salad, fish and tropical fruits at the Gula Gula restaurant in Ipanema. But when they came to pay the 30 bill the two men were shocked to find their credit card refused, and were forced to fish another card from their wallets. A Google spokesman could not comment on the incident.