$14.3 Million Dollars To Be #1
In the oil rich United Arab Emirates, a single vanity license plate with the western number “1″ on it sold for record 52.2 million dirhams, the equivalent of $14.3 million dollars, at a charity auction.
The auction was held at the 7 star Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
This record sale surpassed the $6.8 million paid for a license plate with the number 5 on it.
25 year old Saeed Abdul Ghafour Khour, a member of a wealthy Abu Dabi family, bought the vanity license plate saying, “I bought it because I want to be the best in the world.”
The Khouri family made their fortune in real estate and its unknown exactly how many automobiles they own or which will use the single digit plate.
According to Bloomberg.com:
Khouri won the auction in Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace hotel amid chaotic scenes in the auditorium, which was packed with more than 700 people. The Abu Dhabi businessman had to push through photographers, cameramen and spectators to the front of the room to be seen by the auctioneer before thrusting his number into the air for the final time, his mobile phone at his ear throughout the bidding.
The sum of money was “normal” for his family, Hamdan Khouri said after the auction. “I was prepared to spend as much as 100 million dirhams.”
100 million dirhams is about $27 million dollars.
The oil rich cities of the Persian Gulf are driven by car culture, with relatively few pedestrian areas or public transport options.
Vanity plates are considered a matter of personal pride.
Persian Gulf license plates and most vanity plates include both Arabic and western numerals and script. The special vanity license plates auctioned off only contain a western numeral with no letters.
The actual value of a license plate depends on a mix of math and emotional appeal.
“From 1 to 10, these are the most expensive numbers,” said Abdulla al Mannaie, managing director of Emirates Auctions. “Ten to 99 are the second category. On the other side, you look to numbers which is like 11, 22, 33 they are expensive because it carry repeating digits.
A total of 90 license plates, including numbers 100, 1111, 2001 and 31313, were auctioned off raising a total of 89 million dirhams ($24 million dollars) for a rehabilitation center for victims of traffic accidents.
User
I want #7