A car registration plate bearing just the number one fetched USD 4.9 million at auction in the United Arab Emirates, press reports said today.
The winning bidder, Emirati businessman Arif Ahmed al-Zarouni, told Gulf News: "My ambition is always to be number one."
His bid was 18 times the reserve price but is not the highest sum that has been paid for a collector's registration plate in the UAE.
In 2008, USD 14.2 million was paid at auction for the number one plate of the richest of the UAE's seven emirates, Abu Dhabi.
Zarouni's plate is for Sharjah, the third-richest emirate.
Sixty sought-after plates were up for sale at yesterday's auction. The most popular numbers were 12, 22, 50, 100, 333, 777, 1000, 2016, 2020 and 99999. The auction made a total of USD 13.6 million.
