Dubai Business Number Plate Buyer Shells Out For Matching Mobile Number

Remember how Indian businessman and Dubai expat Balwinder Sahani spent Dhs33 million for the D 5 reg number plate last year? Well, he’s now spent Dhs4.25 million on a mobile phone number.

That’s right, Sahani spent more than Dhs4 million to nab the number at an auction at the Grand Hyatt on Saturday.

What is the number 058-8888888. Ironically, it’s unlikely that Sahani will be able to actually use the number.

“I can never use this number. I got it in my hands at 8.30pm today and till now, within just 2 hours, I’ve received 1,000 calls,” the owner of RSG International told the Khaleej Times.

Think this is a huge waste of money? Well, hold that thought, as it turns out all money spent by Sahani at the auction will go to charity (with du being a semi-government company).

It seems Sahwani is a bit of a profesh’ collector, as he told Gulf News last year when he bought the famous D 5 number plate (which now adorns a Rolls Royce): “I like collecting unique number plates and I am proud to have got this number. I like number nine and D 5 adds up to nine, so I went for it.”

He also spent Dhs25 million on a O9 plate in 2015. “I have collected 10 number plates so far and I am looking forward to having more. It’s a passion.”

So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:

25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.

These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.

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