Leonardo DiCaprio shocked all when he brought girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti to the Oscars — but his other guest may also surprise fans

Leo DiCaprio made headlines for bringing his model girlfriend, Vittoria Ceretti, to the Oscars on Sunday night, but one of his other guests flew under the radar.

Todd Graves — the self-made Raising Cane’s billionaire — was at the Academy Awards with DiCaprio, we hear. While the chicken finger mogul only said he was at the awards with a friend, comic Matt Friend interviewed Graves on the red carpet and hinted, “If we can mention this person, I’d say you’re with a certain actor who, I think, sounds like this… ‘I wanna thank Marty Scorsese, I wanna thank Alejandro Iñárritu. Climate change is real!” Graves discreetly responded without naming DiCaprio, “I hope he gets a win tonight.”

By Wednesday, Graves was out of his tux and in a Raising Cane’s T-shirt mere feet from where the red carpet arrivals had been on Hollywood Blvd. He was giving a preview of the 1,000th location of his chain that just happens to be in the same Ovation complex as the Oscars.

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“I wish we were open that night,” Graves told me at his latest location. “Because I would’ve had everybody come here.” 

Graves’ story would certainly make an Oscar-worthy film. The Louisiana entrepreneur recalled at his new Hollywood spot how he’d lived in LA before making his fortune as a “boilermaker” operating equipment at oil refineries for 90 to over 100 hours per week. “I worked for a refinery in El Segundo, and I also worked for a refinery in Torrance,” he said, adding he resided at a motel “where you could rent by the month or rent by the hour.” 

He even had his battered hard hat from his old job by his side. 

Graves got the nickname “Hollywood” at the refinery when he took a day off after seven weeks to see the sites along the Walk of Fame. He then worked on an Alaskan fishing boat before opening the first Raising Cane’s (named after his dog) in Baton Rouge circa 1996.

Today he’s worth a reported $22 billion and lives next door to his buddy DiCaprio in a $23 million Hollywood Hills mansion.

Graves told us he’ll pen a book when the time is right. As far as a film adaptation, “If somebody wanted to take a chance on that, maybe I’d get DiCaprio to play that role.”

He’s played himself on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” and two of the businesses in which he took stakes have spiked 1,000% and 600% in sales, he said. 

The Hollywood location opens soon.