Did you hear about the guy who just spent Dh55 million ($15 million to you and me) on a license plate in Dubai? I mean, talk about a vanity license plate!
The license plate was offered during a charity auction at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jumeirah; the sale was titled “Most Noble Numbers.” This plate was simple, P7; apparently, a very low number on your license plate is considered a status symbol in Dubai.
Bidding started at just $4M and quickly drove up to $15M, breaking the previous record of $14.3M set in 2008 when billionaire businessman Saeed Abdul Ghafour Khour bought a single-digit plate at an auction that the same company organized.
Proceeds from the auction, which raised close to $27M in total, will go to the 1 Billion Meals Endowment campaign, a global food initiative founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, emir of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is the largest city.
While the new owner’s name has not been released yet, I hope he drives a car that’s at least worth a million dollars; otherwise, that license plate will look really out of place on a beat-up old Chevy. Do you think he was trying to impress his friends or maybe just the Sheikh 😉 who knows? Maybe next time they hold the charity auction, a plate with a smiley face or a heart will be up for grabs. I know this all sounds silly for a license plate, but at least the money went to a good cause, right?