In a Sotheby’s auction, Hong Kong millionaire Joseph Lau sold a number of primarily Hermes bags for HK$25.2 million ($3.2 million).
The sale, dubbed the “visionary collection of Joseph Laufirst “‘s installment, was the biggest single-owner handbag sale ever held in Asia.
Details about a Hong Kong billionaire makes $26.5 million by selling 76 Hermes bags and a Chanel purse
The auction company stated that a portion of the revenues would be donated to charity without specifying what proportion.
76 Hermes purses and one Chanel bag were offered for sale. Six diamond Birkins and an incredibly rare bronze metallic Kelly were among the items sold.
According to auction results published on Sotheby’s website, the most expensive item was a 2006 Bleu Jean Glossy Porosus Crocodile Birkin 25 with 18-karat white gold and diamond hardware, which brought in HK$1.52 million.
According to sources cited by a spokesman for the fugitive tycoon via WhatsApp, the 71-year-old has given more than 1,500 Hermes bags as gifts and his family still possesses more than 1,000 of them.
In the world of auctions, Lau is a well-known collector and vendor. He was the previous chairman of the Hong Kong developer China Estates Holdings.
In 2015, he spent a then-record 48.6 million Swiss francs ($52.9 million) on a 12-carat blue diamond for his daughter.
Lau also owns well-known works of art, including Everything Must Go by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Mao by Andy Warhol, which he intends to exhibit in his upcoming London art gallery.
According to information gathered by Bloomberg, he has sold at least $177 million worth of diverse items since the beginning of 2020, including a David Hockney painting, Chinese antiquities, and wine. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Lau has a net worth of roughly $6 billion, down $2 billion from the second half of 2021.
His family’s ownership of commercial properties and their investment in Chinese Estates are the main sources of his wealth.
The protracted property crisis in mainland China and falling property values in Hong Kong are to blame for the sharp decline in his net worth.
Due to the absence of an extradition agreement between Macau and Hong Kong, Lau was found guilty of bribery and money laundering there in 2014, but he has never been sentenced to jail time.
