Da Vinci
We all knew two rich people were battling it out for Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ … what we did not know is that the two people (Mohammed Bin Zayed and Mohammed Bin Salman) are friends and each mistakenly thought they were bidding against a rival — the Qatari ruling family.
Now here is the best part. According to the Daily Mail article:
The Emirati palace source revealed a further twist that heightened the costly bungle.
‘The Qataris were offered that painting one year before for just $80 million, and that’s more in the ball park of what it’s really worth,’ said the source.
‘But they looked at it, and they felt it was too Christian for their collection, so they declined… The Saudis paid way, way too much for it.’
Sorry, but that made me laugh!
Shortly after the sale it was revealed that Mohammed Bin Salman was the buyer and the critics of his regime began condeming the purchase.
Under pressure to save face and get the now politically toxic painting off his hands, sources said the crown prince struck a deal with his Emirati counterpart to swap the painting for a superyacht.
‘They came up with this idea. Mohammed Bin Zayed had a yacht, it’s called the Topaz, and it was valued at $450 million, exactly what MBS [Mohammed Bin Salman] paid for the painting. So they did a swap.,’ the source said.
‘MBS signed the Da Vinci over to the UAE Ministry of Culture so it could go to the museum, and he got the yacht.’
See what happens when you have way too much money … you spend way too much on a painting and end up with a yacht! Like they always say: rich or poor, it is good to have money!