Today we're looking at the ten most expensive things in the world that money can buy.
They say the best things in life are free, but if you've got a few million dollars just
lying around, some of the items on this list aren't half-bad either!
Welcome to this episode of the Infographics Show, The Ten Most Expensive Things In The
World, part 2.
At number 10 is the Gold-plated Bugatti Veyron, with a price tag of $10 million dollars.
Known for extremely high-performance luxury sports cars, Bugatti outdid itself with the
development of the Veyron.
Capable of going from 0 to 60 in just 2.4 seconds, it has a top speed of a whopping
267 mph (430kph)!
With only 438 Bugatti Veyrons ever made, only a handful of people on earth opted for the
24 karat gold plating which added $7.5 million dollars to the typical $2.5 million dollar
price tag for this extremely rare supercar.
From Saudi Princes to American hip-hop artist Flo-Rida, membership to the gold-plated Bugatti
Veyron club is one of the most exclusive on earth.
If speed and adrenaline aren't your thing though, then maybe art is?
What about art and... dead fish?
Coming it at number 9 of the top ten most expensive things in the world is: a dead shark.
Commissioned in 1991 by Charles Saatchi, former head of one of the biggest advertising agencies
in the world, 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living' is
a 'living art' piece by controversial artist Damien Hirst.
Consisting of a real, preserved tiger shark suspended in a giant tank full of formaldehyde,
the art piece was sold in 2008 for $12 million dollars to a hedge fund manager.
Though the original shark had begun to deteriorate due to poor preservation techniques, it was
swapped out for a new one and properly preserved prior to its sale.
The piece remains controversial to this day, not just for its price tag, but for what some
see as exploitation of wildlife since the tiger shark is an endangered species and both
the original and replacement shark were both fished out of the ocean specifically for this
piece.
From supercars to super art, number 8's Chopard 201-carat watch is super bling.
Known for incredible luxury and beauty both, Swiss watchmaker Chopard outdid itself with
one of the most expensive timepieces in the world.
Featuring three heart-shaped diamonds of 15, 12 and 11 carats set onto a band encrusted
with 163 carats' worth of white and yellow diamonds, there is no millimeter of space
on the watch that isn't pure bling.
At its heart, this Chopard piece is still a fully functional timepiece, as a press of
a hidden button will cause the heart-shaped diamonds to open up like flower petals to
reveal the actual watch face.
With a total carat weight of 201 carats, the Chopard 201-carat watch is one of the most
expensive and carat-heavy pieces of jewelry on the planet with a price tag of $25 million.
It's no surprise that cars, jewelry and art would be on a list of the ten most expensive
things on earth, but what about something less tangible, something that technically
doesn't exist?
Coming in at number 7 is the internet domain, Insurance.com.
With the global insurance industry worth an approximate 3.6 trillion dollars, the much-coveted
domain insurance.com was recently listed at a whopping $35 million dollars.
Customers prefer convenience and simplicity, and with the internet delivering both at the
press of a button, having the right domain name is critical, which is why this simple
url is in such high demand.
While two other domains, LasVegas.com and CarInsurance.com are worth more at $90 million
and $50 million, both other domains have not been available for sale for years, but once
their 35 year terms come up you can expect to see them at a top spot in a future episode!
For number 6 we return to the world of supercars, or rather the original forefather of today's
supercars.
Ferrari has a rich tradition of supercars, and few hold a place dearer to a car enthusiast's
heart than the Ferrari 250 GTO.
Originally designed to compete in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, only 39
models remain in existence.
In February 2012, a 1964 Ferrari 250 GTO set the world record for most expensive car ever
sold, fetching a whopping $32 million dollars, only to have the record broken just a few
months later by another GTO sale for $35 million.
However, fast forward to October 2013 when an anonymous London collector bought a 1963
GTO for an incredible $52 million dollars.
With a price tag like that it's easy to see why this collector thinks its best to remain
anonymous.
Though conspiracy theorists continue to push the idea that diamonds aren't really all that
rare and jewelry makers simply hoard them in order to inflate their value, people are
still willing to shell out major dough on a particularly stunning diamond.
Bought at auction in 2017 for $70 million by the jeweler Chow Tai Fook, the Pink Star
Diamond is number five on our list and one of the rarest diamonds in the world.
Receiving the highest color and clarity grades possible from the Gemological Institute of
America, it is also of a rare subgroup of diamonds known as Type II, the most chemically
pure of all diamonds.
Mined in Africa by De Beers in 1991, the diamond took over two years of painstaking and delicate
work to cut to its ultimate perfection and today rests in a well-guarded showroom.
At the number four spot of our ten most expensive things in the world is an oil painting by
the legendary Leonardo DaVinci- Salvator Mundi, sold at auction for $450 million and setting
a new record for highest price ever achieved by any artwork at auction in history.
In a 19 minute auction hosted by British art dealer and auction house Christie’s, the
audience gasped as the price jumped by tens of millions to $225, surpassing Christie’s
previous record of $179 million for Picasso’s Women of Algiers, sold in May of 2015.
With four bidders competing against each other, 3 over telephone and 1 in the room, the final
bid came in via a representative of the Abu Dhabi government who shook off a final bidder
to set the historic high of $450 million dollars.
The number one rule of real estate is: location, location, location!- and few, if any, pieces
of real estate in the world are more valuable than that of the French Riviera.
Sold in 2008 for $506 million dollars, the Villa Leopolda is not just one of the world's
biggest houses, but also one of the most expensive.
Situated on land that was originally bought for only 1 franc in 1902, the home was built
for Belgian King Leopold II.
When World War I rolled around it was turned into a field hospital for french troops, though
it would be restored to its former glory in 1950 after being bought by Giovanni Agnelli,
owner of legendary car brands Fiat and Ferrari.
Now owned by Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, the home sits on 8 hectares of land and requires
a staff of 50 full time employees to maintain it.
If the $506 million dollar price tag for the Villa Leopolda wasn't enough, what about the
world's most expensive home- ever-: Indian business magnate Mukesh Ambani's iconic Antilia
home in Mumbai, valued at over $1billion dollars.
The pinnacle of modern convenience, this 27 story home sits at the heart of downtown Mumbai
and is equipped with three helipads and a garage that can store over 160 cars!
Designed by American architectural firm Perkins and Will, the building has 27 stories with
each having extra-high ceilings, technically making it an amazing 54 stories.
With the top six floors set aside as a private residential area, the rest of the building
is equipped with guest suites, a beauty salon, ice cream parlor, a private movie theater
large enough to accommodate 50 people, and even a 'snow-room' whose walls spit out artificial
snow to help beat Mumbai's legendary heat.
Situated in one of the world's most active earthquake regions, Antila is also designed
to be earthquake-proof up to a magnitude 8 quake.
From homes to jewelry to cars- our list of the ten most expensive things in the world
wouldn't be complete without that most iconic item of extreme luxury and wealth: the yacht.
But not just any yacht- at $4.5 billion dollars, the History Supreme is both the most expensive
thing in the world, and the most 'blinged out' thing ever created.
From bow to stern the yacht holds over 220,000 lbs (99,790 kg) of precious metals that cover
everything, and we mean everything: from the hull, to the deck, to the railing, and even
the anchor- everything aboard the History Supreme is made of, or covered, in gold or
platinum.
Inside, the galley holds wine glasses made of diamond and plates of pearl and fine china-
but the real price is in the main bedroom which holds a meteoric stone embedded with
real T-Rex dinosaur bones.
Owned by Robert Kuok, richest man in Malaysia, the History Supreme can often be spotted at
some of the most prestigious coastal events in the world, such as
the Cannes Film Festival.
And there you have it, the ten most expensive things in the world you can buy.
Money may not ultimately buy happiness, but whether you live in a 27-story ultra-rise,
drive one of the most iconic supercars ever made, or sail around the sea on a ship made
of gold and platinum, having lots of money couldn't hurt either.
What on this list would you buy if you could?
Let us know in the comments.
Also, be sure to watch our other video called 50 Surprising Cold War Facts That Will Shock
You!
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe, and see
you next time.