--- title: "94 Year-Old Electronics Billionaire Accused of Hiring Goons to Infest Chicago With Huge Rat Swarm" description: "Aging mogul Barre Seid is using his largess to pay a team of workers to feed Chicago-area rodents with nuts." date: "2026-10-16" modified: "2026-10-16" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/elecronics-billionaire-feeding-nuts-chicago-rat-infestation" categories: - "Biology" - "Evolution" - "Food" - "Future Society" - "Science & Energy" - "The Industrialists" --- # 94 Year-Old Electronics Billionaire Accused of Hiring Goons to Infest Chicago With Huge Rat Swarm ![A rat holding a walnut.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* A 94-year-old electronics mogul is in hot water with Chicago authorities, who claim that his hare-brained plan to feed hungry squirrels is instead sustaining a massive plague of rats. As previous owner of the billion-dollar electrical manufacturing company Tripp Lite, businessman Barre Seid has been putting his largess to use by paying a small army of workers to sprinkle an assortment of tree nuts across Chicago-area parks, [*Fortune* reports](). As local resident Caroline Novak [told *Chicago WGN*](), it's "like a luxury mélange of really nice nuts: I'm talking Brazil nuts and walnuts… these are not acorns." Though Seid's target audience seems to be local squirrels, residents and city officials note that rats have quickly grown to depend on the regular feedings. As Novak's husband told *WGN*, he counted over 40 rats digging holes near nut piles during a recent walk through Lincoln Park. The bizarre operation has evidently been underway for years at this point, earning the billionaire heaps of civil violations carrying relatively small fines. Wealthy as he is, Seid has reportedly had no problem paying those fees and carrying on — the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, as the [old saying]() goes. "When you're a billionaire and you have a weird hobby and someone tries to stop you, you have complete impunity," Novak [told *Block Club Chicago*]() in a separate interview. "You just triple down because why not? You'll pay $40,000 in fines. You don’t care." Now in 2026, authorities in Chicago are reaching their breaking point. Alderman Timmy Knudsen — whose jurisdiction covers the area of Lincoln Park Seid's workers are active in — is now pushing the Chicago Park District to sue Seid in order to stop the nuttiness once and for all. "For years, a billionaire family has carried out a paid operation to feed local wildlife, disrupting our rat abatement efforts and causing an infestation that has made parts of the park unusable for other residents," Knudsen's office told *Fortune* in a statement. "We're hopeful that raising awareness and drawing attention to the issue will ultimately lead to better behavior and a safer park for our community." **More on tech billionaires:** *[Billionaires Pouring Money Into Ads About How AI Data Centers Are Actually Good]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()