After successful auction bid of 18 times reserve price, Arif Ahmed al-Zarouni says: ‘My ambition is always to be number one’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A car registration plate bearing just the number one fetched AED18m (£3.4m) at auction in the United Arab Emirates, according to press reports.

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 number plate in the UAE. In 2008, the number one plate of the richest of the UAE’s seven emirates, Abu Dhabi, sold for AED52.2m at auction. Zarouni’s plate is for Sharjah, the third-richest emirate.

Sixty sought-after plates were up for sale at Saturday’s auction. The most popular numbers were 12, 22, 50, 100, 333, 777, 1000, 2016, 2020 and 99999. The auction made a total of AED50m.