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The world's most expensive license plate just sold for $15 million in Dubai

A VP at Emirates Auction holds up a license plate with "P 7" on it
The "P 7" plate was sold at a charity auction in Dubai on Saturday. Emirates Auction
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A license plate believed to be the world's most expensive sold for 55 million UAE dirhams ($15 million) in an auction at the weekend.

The plate simply features one letter and one digit: "P 7."

Emirates Auction, which auctioned off the license plate in Dubai on Saturday, said that it was a new record. The company said that the proceeds would go to a food aid charity led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Dubai ruler.

The auction house told Insider that the plate's buyer wished to remain anonymous.

The most expensive license plate sold prior to the weekend's auction was the single digit "1," according to the Guinness World Records. It was bought for 52.2 million dirhams (around $14.2 million) by Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri from the United Arab Emirates in 2008, also during an auction organized by Emirates Auction. This is still listed as the record holder on the Guinness World Records website.

In Hong Kong, a license plate with just the letter "R" sold for 25.5 million Hong Kong dollars, or around $3.2 million, in February.

Dubai-based businessman, Balvinder Singh Sahni, told Bloomberg that he had bought the license plate "D 5" for 33 million dirhams in 2016. "Dubai is a city of gold," he told the outlet. "It's a city of big people ... Everybody wants to show their status."

"It was always my dream to have a single-digit number," he added.

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Grace Dean was a business reporter at Business Insider's London office between August 2020 and August 2024.Her work focused on the restaurant industry, fast-food giants, retail trends, and the labor market. She also wrote about Google's work culture, gender equality in Iceland, layoffs at Calibrate, and truck drivers' experiences on the road.Prior to joining Business Insider, Grace studied German & Business at Newcastle University and spent a year as the Editor-in-Chief of its student newspaper the Courier.Here are some examples of her coverage:Women in Iceland want you to know it's not a gender equality utopiaFast food feels more expensive than ever before. Here's why.Calibrate's CEO announced layoffs affecting over 150 staff on a Zoom call. Minutes later, their company laptops were wiped.Starbucks workers say customers got ruder during the pandemicBritain's charity stores are going upmarketThe no-frills tactics that help make Aldi so cheapPrivate cleaning companies are turning down business because of staff shortages