Internet bidding for wife ends at £1bn
Internet bidding for a Birmingham businesswoman auctioning herself as a wife has closed at £1bn.
Auction site QXL.com says it's unlikely the winning bid for Kay Hammond's hand in marriage is genuine.
The 24-year-old managing director had put a reserve price on herself of £250,000.
Offers reached £10m on eBay before it pulled the plug and bidding resumed on QXL.com.
The auction closed today with a winning bid of £1,000,000,000 from "sh0rt1e".
Miss Hammond, who maintains the idea is not a publicity stunt, was not available for comment.
A spokeswoman for QXL.com said: "Bidding is closed. We'll have to wait and see what Kay wants to do next. In normal circumstances the bids are genuine, but this is an unusual auction. There's obviously somebody who's pretty determined to test our system."
She said the bidding was only open to QXL members with a credit card account.
Miss Hammond has previously said she will meet the highest bidders in January to make sure they want to go through with the sale.
