Two New York waitresses in 2015 discovered he had left them $1 million in tip after his death. He had dined in his favourite restaurant for 50 years

Imagine being left a fortune by a patron just for being good at your job and doing what a competent hospitality sector employee does best – serving the customer to the best of your ability. Two waitresses at a Manhattan eatery, Maureen Donohue-Peters and her niece, Maureen Barrie, learnt after the death of one of the restaurant’s patrons – a wealthy art mogul named Robert Ellsworth – had left them $50,000 in his will, according to ABC station WABC in New York. Ellsworth was known as the King of Ming, as he possessed a huge collection of antique Asian artefacts. However, despite his prosperity and reputation, Robert, or ‘Bob’ as he wanted to be called, was very friendly and the epitome of a gentleman at Donohue's Steak House.

Donohue-Peters told WABC that the late tycoon was very nice and down-to-earth, very nice and helpful. He knew every employee’s name and always had their $8.95 open-faced bacon and cheese sandwich.

According to a New York Post report, Bob was also unfailingly generous. He would always tip 20 per cent and would never even look at the bill. He had dined at Donohue for fifty years, making him a loyal patron. He passed away in 2014.


According to the New York Times, Ellsworth, who was 85 when he passed away, had a whopping $200 million net worth. He had left both the women $50,000 apiece.

According to a Business Insider report, Ellsworth also left a whopping $100,000 for his household staff and other friends.

Ellsworth did not complete high school and became a veteran trader at the age of 19, specialising in antiques. He established his own shop in 1959 at the age of 30. He was a prominent art dealer of Ming dynasty furniture and modern Chinese artworks. He lived with Masahiro Hashiguchi, a Japanese restaurateur with whom he co-owned Gibbon, a former restaurant on the Upper East Side, in a twenty-room house.

After his demise, his partner was not content with the $10 million he was given from Ellsworth’s estate and filed a rival will where he claimed he was entitled to almost all of his late partner’s wealth. He accused his boyfriend’s estate planning attorney, George Bischof, of insinuating himself into his life so that he could earn commissions.