French i-banker ditches $165K Hamptons rental after one night

The European owners of a five-bedroom beachfront home in Southampton are going after investment banking honcho Matthieu Pigasse for $165,000 after he allegedly backed out of a month-long rental commitment two days into his stay and left without paying up, the Post reported. Pigasse, the co-CEO of Lazard in France, “didn’t like the house because it didn’t look like the pictures,” said broker Jack Prizzi of Prudential Douglas Elliman, who rented it to him. “It looks exactly like the pictures,” he added. The Frenchman, who recently acquired newspaper Le Monde, contacted Altour International president Alexandre Chemla upon arrival at the $30 million home at 2170 Meadow Lane to help him find another rental. Chemla said his client only stayed at the home for one night before moving to a different one down the block. Sources said the owners of the first house are now demanding that Pigasse pay rent for the month anyway. “It was my mistake letting them in with no deposit or signed contract, but they flew in at night,” Prizzi said. “I trusted him.” [Post]