In Dubai, a rare number plate broke a world record when it was sold for 55 million dirhams (13.7 million euros), a world record. The identity of the auction winner has not been revealed.
The P7 painting was auctioned off by the Emirates Auction Company in another solidarity initiative by the government, which held a charity auction where the proceeds went to the food aid initiative of Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Endowment for One Million Meals.
This auction broke the record set in 2008 by local businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khoury, who paid 52.2 million dirhams for a painting bearing number 1 in Abu Dhabi, Bloomberg revealed.
Watch: A new record was set last night, as a P7 car number plate sold for 55 million dirhams at an auction in Dubai https://t.co/9bLBrLKedv pic.twitter.com/xtFG4FrDEZ
– Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) April 9, 2023
In this country of the United Arab Emirates, government auctions bring in millions for charities, but they also act as vanity grinders for the very wealthy to show off their status and wealth, for a good cause.
Rare car plates have been auctioned off for astounding sums. In Hong Kong, for example, the “R” sold earlier this year for HK$25.5 million (€2.9 million).
Businessman Balvinder Singh Sahni, better known as Abu Sabah, bought the 5D plate in 2016 for Dh33m (€8.2m). “Dubai is a golden city,” he said in the interview, adding, “It’s a big city, safe people, great people. So, everyone wants to show their status,” Bloomberg reveals.
One of the examples given by Abu Sabah was on his first visit to the luxurious Burj Al Arab Hotel in 2006, when he was denied entry because his car plate had too many numbers, and to enter he had to have one number. Registration or reservation number.
“When I had the opportunity, and they told me that all this money would go to charity, I went with everything I could,” he affirmed.
