Server left stunned after billionaire leaves huge tip

A waitress has been left stunned by an amazing display of generosity, which has gone viral on social media this week, after she was given a gigantic tip from a restaurant patron last weekend.

Jennifer Navaria, a server at the Seaglass restaurant in Salisbury in Massachusetts waited on a table of four on Saturday night. In a later interview with local news station FOX 23, Jennifer stated that she exchanged some pleasant banter with the customers, before bringing them the cheque for their meal. The bill totaled $157.

The patrons paid the bill and left. But when Jennifer returned to pick it up, she was elated to see that she'd been left a tip for $50.00 - which is no mean sum. But she was bowled over when she looked more closely and saw that there was no decimal point on the receipt. Jennifer had just been gifted a tip of $5000!

Commenting on the tip in a later interview with FOX 23, Jennifer stated "There was no decimal point in what I thought was 50. But then when I went to the bottom [with the total], it was four digits, then a decimal point. So that’s when I knew it was not $50. I was shaking. And it was, like, really unbelievable."

Jennifer later took to Facebook to share a picture of the massive tip, which she captioned: "Thank you Ernie Boch for your amazing generosity! You certainly made a job I really enjoy that much better. Let’s see if my friends can help this reach Donnie! [sic]"

The generous patron reportedly later turned out to be Ernie Boch Jr, the CEO, president, and spokesman of Boch Enterprises auto dealerships. Boch is considered to be something of a local celebrity in Greater Boston, with a passion for music, TV cameos, and philanthropy. 

In a later interview with WFXT, Boch stated that he had been inspired by New Kids on the Block star Donnie Wahlberg's "2020 Tip Challenge" which challenges wealthy people to grant large tips to the deserving.

Commenting on his donation, Boch stated: "Waiters and waitresses, they’re such fine people. It really hit me, and I wanted to do it. I wanted to take that challenge, and I couldn’t figure out when or where. But when I saw Jennifer, and Jennifer took care of our table, that’s when I said, ‘Here is when I’m going to do the challenge.’"