It's understandable that clubs pay celebs to show up, though it always blows my mind how much. But for a person? Surely this can increase one's 'personal brand

It's understandable that clubs pay celebs to show up, though it always blows my mind how much. But for a person? Surely this can increase one's 'personal brand' - I guess - in some way, but really it's utterly sad. Literally paying people to hang out with you. I don't worry much about ever being a billionaire, but that is one thing I did ponder: how hard it would be to tell the true friends from the clingers. So sad. And $1B scam is not even a lot. Many 'national leaders' routinely take 10% of foreign direct investment right off the top. It happens in the open, clear as day, but there's hardly any reporting about it.