There’s a long-standing rumor that Jerry Seinfeld was the inspiration behind the American Express Centurion Card, better known as the “Black Card.”
Jerry doesn’t deny the rumor. In fact, he claims he was the reason for the card on an episode of his Netflix show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
To be honest, the timeline does kind of work. Seinfeld did a series of very popular TV spots for AMEX in the late 1990s, like this one from 1997. This was before AMEX had better supermarket cards than the Green card.
Centurion Card Moves From Rumor to Reality
AMEX introduced the Centurion Card in 1999. No one disputes that Jerry was among the first to receive one.
However, American Express neither confirms nor denies that Seinfeld pitched the idea to the company’s president.
Snopes has done some digging into the AMEX Black Card, but their focus was mostly on what the card can actually do. For example—can you charge a Bentley? Find and purchase the horse from Dances with Wolves?
A quick Google search turns up plenty of Centurion Card unboxing videos, so it’s not nearly the secret it once was.
But the story of how the card came to be is an interesting one. Was it a case of the cart coming before the horse—where rumors of an ultra-exclusive card led to its actual creation?
“There had been rumors going around that we had this ultra-exclusive Black Card for elite customers,” said Doug Smith, Director of American Express Europe. “It wasn’t true, but we decided to capitalize on the idea anyway.”
Do we have Jerry Seinfeld to thank?
Was Jerry Seinfeld the spark that got AMEX to actually develop the Centurion Card?
While he claims that’s the case, can you really believe someone who’s made a career out of telling stories (albeit loosely based on real life)?
And if you do believe Seinfeld’s story, shouldn’t the camera operator who told him about the rumored card get the credit?
Regardless of its origin, the Centurion Card has become a symbol of wealth and prestige, with its invitation-only status, steep annual fees, and exclusive perks. For those lucky enough to carry one, it’s a status symbol guaranteed to impress.
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