WEALTHY PERSON PAYS $15 MILLION FOR A LICENSE PLATE

In the United Arab Emirates, a wealthy anonymous bidder paid 55 million Emirati dirhams, roughly $15 million, for a license plate at an auction in Dubai. The plate had the single number “7” on it. Low license plate numbers have long been considered a status symbol in the United Arab Emirates and have been auctioned off to the Gulf state’s ultra-wealthy. The previous record was set in 2008 when a businessman paid $14 million for the “1” license plate. On the bright side, the proceeds from these license plate auctions are donated to the One Billion Meals Endowment, a global food aid fund. Low license plate numbers are important to the rich in the United Arab Emirates. One local businessman, Balvinder Singh Sahni, claimed that he was refused entry to the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel in 2006 because his car license plate had too many numbers.
* That’s what they told him, anyway. They didn’t want to tell him he was a dork to his face.
* Good thing the buyer’s anonymous, with THE NUMBER 7 ON THE FRONT OF HIS EXPENSIVE CAR. No one will know it’s him.
* To make it an even lower number, he took a marker and put a “minus” sign in front of the 7. Negative 7!
* After buying the license plate, he celebrated with a couple of those $214 grilled cheese sandwiches. (* See story in U.S. News.)
* Then there’s the billionaire geek in Dubai who paid $10 million for a license plate with the π symbol for pi.