A man from California has set a new world record for having the most credit cards in his name--a total of 1,497. This amounts to a $1.7 million line of credit.
Walter Cavanagh of Santa Clara, California, has a nearly perfect credit score, mostly because he does not use many of these credit cards.
In fact, Cavanagh says he only uses one of the nearly 1,500 credit cards, and pays that one card off every month. His cards weigh 38 pounds, and he owns a wallet that is 250 feet long. However, most of his credit cards are stored in a safe.
Cavanagh's collection started with a simple bet with a friend. In the late 1960's, he and a friend made a wager for dinner to see who could collect the most credit cards by the end of the year. He amassed 143 cards and his friend collected 138. In 1971, he earned the Guinness World Record for having the most credit cards, and was given the nickname "Mr. Plastic Fantastic."
The credit limits on his credit cards range from $50 to $15,000, and they include a number of signature and limited edition cards that were only offered for a short amount of time. Cavanagh has continued to build his collection in order to maintain his world record, and there are no signs of him stopping any time soon.