Former PayPal executive unmasked as mystery man on tipping spree

Looks like a former PayPal Inc. executive is the mystery man who’s been dropping thousands of dollars on tips at bars and restaurants across the United States.

Jack Selby, a member of PayPal’s original management team, was first unmasked as the generous tipper by the website gawker.com. The New York Post reported that Aruj Dhawan, a waiter at Bo’s Kitchen in Chelsea, confirmed that Selby was the man who recently left him a $1,000 tip.

“A stranger comes in and drops a thousand dollars . . . I was just really thankful,” Dhawan told the newspaper.

Selby could not be reached. He became a multimillionaire after PayPal was acquired by Ebay Inc. and most recently has been working in venture capital and entertainment.

Word of the generous tipper, known for leaving the Instagram name @TipsForJesus on credit card receipts, captivated the restaurant industry.

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The generous tipper crisscrossed the country leaving massive tips, one as large as $10,000, for wait staff. The @TipsForJesus Instagram account included photos of several of the whopping tips.

One of the tips was for $500 on a $24 tab at Jumbo’s Clown Room in Hollywood. On one receipt, left at a restaurant in South Bend, Ind., he wrote the USC slogan “Fight on!” and included a $5,000 tip on an $84 tab.

What motivated the generosity is unclear, but the Instagram account’s tagline says the mission is “doing Lord’s work, one tip at a time.”

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