Celebrity News

MARIA’S CITI FLIGHTS ADDING UP

NOT even CNBC anchorbabe Maria Bartiromo‘s bosses can say for sure how many flights she took on the Citigroup corporate jet with the bank’s wealth-management chief, Todd Thomson, who was jettisoned last week over his lavish spending.

Bartiromo logged tens of thousands of miles on at least “six trips” on the plane, two sources at the bank told The Post.

A CNBC spokesman denied that Bartiromo took six rides on the Citigroup jet but declined to say exactly how many she did take. The rep also said that Bartiromo made 47 appearances last year for the network and that each was approved.

But every day the number of flights Bartiromo is said to have taken on the Citi jet seems to grow. Previously, she was believed to have taken just one – a 16-hour jaunt back from Beijing in late November with Thomson, who reportedly kicked three other bank executives off the plane for her.

One CNBC exec was quoted this week as saying Bartiromo made “no more than two” trips on Citigroup jets last year. One was a trip back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which Bartiromo was covering again last week.

The Post reported Wednesday that the Beijing flight alone set Citi back at least $50,000, based on executive jet operating costs. A CNBC rep said that Citi was reimbursing the bank and that Bartiromo had full approval to fly, but the network paid only about the standard commercial fare, $4,000.

Bartiromo and Thomson have a history of making fawning public statements about each other and have been seen by Citi execs dining together at Restaurant Daniel. They were involved in so many projects that Citi CEO Chuck Prince had to tell Thomson to stop spending the firm’s cash on her.

The Wall Street Journal reported that when Thomson’s plan to sponsor a Bartiromo-hosted show on the Sundance Channel for $5 million got out, he set off a minirevolt at the bank, which led to his dismissal.

Bartiromo, meanwhile, wants to take her “Money Honey” nickname to the bank. She’s trying to trademark her pet name for potential uses ranging from stuffed animals to coloring books. Her lawyer filed on Jan. 16 at least eight applications for use of the moniker, TVNewser reported.