NBA legend Jordan shoes sell at auction for $1.38 million

NEW YORK - Shoes worn by NBA legend Michael Jordan in the famous "Flu Game" of the 1997 NBA Finals were sold at auction for $1.38 million, Goldin memorabilia marketplace announced Thursday.

The sneakers were part of history for Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, who won six NBA titles in the 1990s

The Bulls and Utah were tied in the 1997 best-of-seven NBA Finals at two wins each ahead of game five, when Jordan felt ill, feverish and dehydrated due to a stomach virus but played for Chicago anyway.

Jordan scored 38 points in 44 minutes and made the decisive 3-pointer in the dying seconds for a 90-88 Bulls triumph -- delivering the only Jazz home loss of the playoffs -- and Chicago went on to capture the crown in six games, with Jordan taking the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award.

The shoes, which had belonged to a former Jazz ballboy, were first sold at auction 10 years ago for almost $105,000.

Agence France-Presse

Record-setting price at Tokyo tuna auction

A 211-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for about 16.9 million Japanese yen or around 145,290 dollars and bought jointly by Michelin-starred sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuk is carried into a sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday. 

-reuters-

Tennis: Federer memorabilia net $4.7-M at auction

GENEVA, Switzerland -- Roger Federer may have seen his dreams of Olympic gold dashed this week, but he can celebrate that t-shirts, racquets, and shoes from his trophy-laden tennis career proved a treasure trove at auction.

The sports legend saw every single item that went under the hammer at a two-phased Christie's auction sold, raking in £3.4 million ($4.7 million, 3.98 million euros).

The combined proceeds from an online and a live auction -- over three times more than his £1-million target -- will go to the Roger Federer Foundation, which supports educational projects in southern Africa and his native Switzerland.

"I am overwhelmed by the generosity and enthusiasm of the support from around the world," Federer said in a statement.

The auction of items the 20-time Grand Slam winner's career happened in two phases.

A live sale on June 23 in London focused on Federer's career at the four Grand Slams: Wimbledon and the Australian, French and US Opens.

The subsequent online sale from June 23 to July 14 featured 300 lots from other tournaments spanning 21 years -- dating back to his first Olympics appearance at the Sydney 2000 Games, aged just 19.

The items sold online found buyers from 44 countries and across six continents, Christie's said. 

The highlight of the online sale was a set of three rackets used at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, which sold for £162,500 -- more than 23 times above their estimate of £7,000-10,000.

"The prices achieved have been unbelievable," Federer said.

"We started collecting items which accompanied me on court because we thought that perhaps one day we could do something meaningful with them," he said.

He said he and his wife Mirka were "humbled to see that the decision we made will make a profound difference to so many children."

The Roger Federer collection was the most important single-owner collection of sporting memorabilia ever to come to market, a Christie's representative told AFP prior to the auction. 

Federer, who turns 40 on August 8, had been hoping to secure his first Olympic singles gold medal at the upcoming Tokyo Games, but announced Tuesday he had withdrawn after a "setback" in his recovery from a knee injury.

Agence France-Presse

Pink diamond fetches $26.6M at Sotheby's Geneva sale

GENEVA -- An extremely rare, purple-pink diamond mined in Russia, which Sotheby's described as "a true wonder of nature," sold for 24.4 million Swiss francs ($26.6 million) on Wednesday, the auction house said.

Sotheby's had estimated that the flawless oval gem, "The Spirit of the Rose," could fetch $23 million to $38 million at the Geneva sale.

Bidding opened at 16 million Swiss francs and climbed to the final hammer price of 21 million Swiss francs, plus commission. It was bought by a telephone bidder who chose to remain anonymous, Sotheby's said.

Jewelry expert Benoit Repellin, who led the sale, said it set a record for a diamond graded fancy vivid purple pink sold at auction. The stone weighing 14.83 carats was the largest pink diamond with that color grading to go on the block.

The diamond was named after a ballet performed by the Ballets Russes and its legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky in 1911.

Mined by Russian diamond producer Alrosa in July 2017, it was cut from the largest pink crystal ever found in the country, Sotheby's said.

The diamond was shown in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei.

Colored stones have been greatly valued as an asset class by the super rich in recent years with top-quality pink diamonds especially prized.

The Argyle mine in western Australia, which produced the world's largest supply of pink diamonds, halted production last week due to depletion.

"The lucky buyer could well profit from prices soaring for pink diamonds in the coming years thanks to increased rarity," Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, Europe's largest online diamond jeweler, said in a statement.

Naturally colored diamonds occur because they possess a particular lattice structure that refracts light to produce colored, rather than white, stones.

-reuters-

Michael Jordan's sneakers sell for $615,000, new record

Michael Jordan, Nike, Air Jordan 1, sneakers, auction, basketball, Christie's


A pair of Michael Jordan's game-worn sneakers sold for $615,000, Christie's auction house said Thursday, shattering a record set just months ago by the sale of another pair of the basketball legend's shoes.

The sneakers were a pair of Air Jordan 1 Highs that the NBA megastar wore during a 1985 exhibition match in Italy when he dunked the ball so hard it shattered the glass backboard.

"This is the original shoe with an actual piece of the backboard, a piece of glass, in the sole of the shoe," said Caitlin Donovan, head of handbag and sneaker sales at Christie's -- which organized the auction with Stadium Goods.

Jordan racked up 30 points while wearing the size 13.5 shoes, which are in the red and black colors of his Chicago Bulls team.

Though the sale broke the record set in May when a pair of Air Jordan 1's sold for $560,000, the new auction landed below the estimated range of $650,000 and $850,000.

The record setting sales highlight the soaring market value of objects identified with the retired basketball superstar since the release of "The Last Dance," an ESPN/Netflix documentary that chronicles the saga of Jordan and his Chicago Bulls.

It also confirms that the lowly sneaker now has a place of pride in the world of wealthy collectors alongside more traditional collectibles.

Agence France-Presse

Coronavirus takes a bite out of Japan melon auction

TOKYO - A pair of premium Japanese melons sold Monday for just a slice of the five million yen ($46,000) reached at auction last year, as the coronavirus bites hard.

The melons from Yubari on the northern island of Hokkaido sold for a snip at 120,000 yen at the season's first auction -- 40 times less than last year's record price tag.

An official at the wholesale market blamed the coronavirus for keeping away rich corporate clients who compete to outbid each other for the most expensive fruit.

The virus meant the auction was smaller than usual and mostly made up of lower net worth individuals.

The successful bidder wanted to show gratitude and support for local farmers, according to local news agency Kyodo.

The wholesale market has been closed since April 20 as part of actions to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but held a one-off auction to drum up support for local products.

Hokkaido, the country's northernmost main island and a popular tourist destination, has seen a relatively high number of virus infection cases along with Tokyo, Osaka and other urban areas.

The government is expected to lift a state of emergency for Hokkaido and the Tokyo area later on Monday.

kh/ric/sah/fox

Agence France-Presse

Kurt Cobain's 'Unplugged' guitar up for auction starting at $1 million

Decades after grunge's reluctant poster boy took his own life, Kurt Cobain's guitar played during his legendary MTV Unplugged performance is hitting the auction block at a starting estimate of $1 million.

The retro acoustic-electric 1959 Martin D-18E Cobain strummed for Nirvana's career-defining performance in New York -- just five months before his shock death at age 27 -- will be open to the highest bidder the weekend of June 19th in Beverly Hills and online via Julien's Auction's.

Considering the starting estimate of $1 million for Cobain's guitar, it will likely go for more than double that of a guitar that played a key role in Bob Dylan's artistic evolution from folk to rock, which in 2018 fetched just under half a million.

Nirvana's acoustic performance during the taping for the popular MTV Unplugged series on November 18th, 1993 became what is considered one of history's greatest live albums.

It included renditions of Nirvana's hits "About A Girl" and "Come As You Are" along with covers including David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World."

The guitar will be on display in the front window of London's Piccadilly Circus Hard Rock Cafe starting May 15 until May 31.

Other Cobain memorabilia going up for sale includes a black custom-made and smashed Fender Stratocaster guitar played during 1994's In Utero Tour -- starting at $60,000 -- and a metallic silver lame long sleeve button-down shirt the artist wore in the 1993 "Heart-shaped Box" music video, starting at $10,000.

In October 2019 Cobain's iconic cigarette-singed cardigan worn during the "Unplugged" performance sold for $334,000.

And a paper plate Cobain had eaten pizza off of -- and then written a Nirvana set list on for a performance at Washington's intimate 9:30 club -- that same year went for $22,400.

Agence France-Presse

Michael Jordan's first Air Jordans up for auction at Sotheby's

An autographed and well-worn pair of basketball legend Michael Jordan's Nike shoes hits the auction block at Sotheby's on Friday, in a celebrity-infused test of the market for sneakers as highly-prized collectibles.

The Air Jordan 1s, designed for Jordan in 1985 and the first ever signature sneakers, are expected to fetch between $100,000 to $150,000 in the online auction that closes on May 17, Sotheby's in New York said.

Sotheby's, better known for selling multimillion-dollar art, last year held its first auction dedicated entirely to sneakers. It set a new world record of $437,500 for a pair of 1972 Nike running shoes, known as the "Moon Shoe."

The white, black and red Air Jordan 1 sneakers up for auction on Friday have red laces, are signed by Jordan, and show frequent wear by the former Chicago Bulls player. Like most of Jordan's basketball shoes, they are a mismatched pair in a size 13 (left) and size 13.5 (right), Sotheby's said.

The shoes are being sold by collector Jordan Geller, founder of the sneaker museum Shoezeum, where they were previously on display in Las Vegas. They were the "crown jewel" of the museum, drawing fans and collectors from all over the world, according to Geller.

The auction coincides with the 35th anniversary of the Air Jordan brand and the screening of the last episode of the 10-part ESPN television documentary "The Last Dance" about the Chicago Bulls and Jordan.

"With all the excitement surrounding Michael Jordan and 'The Last Dance,' my wife and I decided that it's time to let the shoes find a new home," Geller said in a statement.

-reuters-

Handwritten 'Hey Jude' lyrics sell for $910,000

LOS ANGELES, United States - A sheet of paper bearing Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to "Hey Jude" sold for $910,000 in an online auction held Friday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' historic split.

The document penned by McCartney and used during the 1968 London recording of the classic song at Trident Studios was sold for more than five times its pre-sale estimate.

California-based Julien's Auctions shifted its sale of some 250 Beatles memorabilia online due to the coronavirus pandemic, with fans around the world bidding for guitars, rare vinyl and autographed items.

Friday marks exactly half a century since an interview given by McCartney sealed the acrimonious end of the "Fab Four," widely considered one of the most influential bands in history.

Asked if he foresaw a time when his prolific songwriting partnership with fellow Beatle John Lennon would restart, his blunt reply -- "no" -- spoke for itself.

McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" after an earlier split -- Lennon's divorce from first wife Cynthia following his affair with Japanese artist Yoko Ono.

The song was composed to comfort Lennon's son Julian during his parents' break-up, and was initially titled "Hey Jules."

The handwritten document sold Friday contains partial lyrics along with annotations including the word "break" used to aid the song's recording.

Other items included a drumhead with the Beatles' logo used during their first US tour gig in 1964, sold for $200,000, and a handwritten shooting script page for the "Hello, Goodbye" music video in 1967, fetching $83,200.

A brass ashtray used by Ringo Starr at the Abbey Road recordings in the 1960s earned $32,500.

Agence France Presse

Kobe Bryant handprints among Beverly Hills auction items

A copy of Kobe Bryant's handprints, cast in cement outside Hollywood's famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre, are going up for auction in April along with other memorabilia of the basketball legend who died in January.

Julien's Auctions said on Thursday that the handprints are tests that were made by Bryant in 2011 when he became the first athlete to leave his mark alongside some of the movie industry's biggest stars in the forecourt of the theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

They have a pre-sale estimate of $4,000-$6,000.

Bryant died at age 41 in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas. His 13 year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people were also killed.

Demand for Bryant apparel and other items surged immediately after his death, with sellers on eBay and other sites asking tens of thousands of dollars for sneakers, jerseys and balls signed by the star.

Julien's said the Bryant items were being offered by a collector in Kentucky, and that the sale as part of its annual Sport Legends auction was already being prepared before the basketball player's death.

"Celebrities' auction values always increase when they pass away as they are no longer using or creating new items. It takes them to another iconic status when they pass away," Chief Executive Darren Julien said in a statement.

"Like Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson would always be remembered, Kobe was young, vibrant because he did not age," Julien said.

The top Kobe Bryant item is a full Los Angeles Lakers No. 8 uniform that Bryant wore during the 1999-2000 NBA finals. It carries a pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$20,000.

A pair of signed game-worn Adidas basketball shoes bearing Bryant's No. 8 is expected to fetch up to $4,000, along with a basketball signed by all of the 2009-2010 Lakers team members.

The April 30 auction in Beverly Hills will be preceded by a public exhibit. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Invader's 'Rubik Mona Lisa' beats estimate at Paris auction

PARIS -- A French street artist's interpretation of the Mona Lisa made of 330 Rubik's Cubes sold for 480,200 euros ($520,680) on Sunday at a modern art auction in Paris, well above presale estimates of up to 150,000 euros, organizers Artcurial said.

The 2005 artwork by anonymous street artist Invader uses the plastic puzzles' squares to create a mosaic of the Mona Lisa and her famous smile in garish colours.

The sale coincided with the closure of a blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the nearby Louvre museum, the home of the real Mona Lisa. That show marked the 500th anniversary of the death of the Renaissance master.

Invader is known for his mosaic tile works featuring pixelated versions of the 1978 Space Invaders video game characters, which "invade" cities around the world.

The Rubik Mona Lisa was created in 2005 and is the first in Invader's "Rubikcubism" series, in which he recreates well-known Old Master works.

Invader, who defines himself as an UFA, an Unidentified Free Artist, wears a mask and insists on his face being pixilated for his rare appearances on camera.

He has a large following of fans who use a Smartphone app, "Flash Invaders," to snap pictures of his mosaics if they’re authentically his, rack up points and compete with other players.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Swiss to auction 25 super cars seized from E. Guinea leader's son

CHÉSEREX, Switzerland - A collection of luxury cars seized from Equatorial Guinea's vice president Teodorin Obiang Nguema will be auctioned off in Switzerland on Sunday and are estimated to bring in 18.5 million Swiss francs ($18.7 million).

"This is an exceptional sale," Philip Kantor, of British auctioneers Bonhams, told AFP. "It's a private collection of supercars, with very low mileage.

Among the cars, to go under the hammer at a Geneva golf club, are seven Ferraris, three Lamborghinis, five Bentleys, a Maserati and a McLaren. 

The most expensive lots are a Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, valued at between 4.8 million and 5.7 million euros ($5.2-6.2 million) and yellow Ferrari hybrid at 2.4-2.6 million euros.

The cars were all confiscated by Swiss justice after the opening in 2016 of a financial wrongdoing case against Obiang, son and likely heir of Equatorial Guinea's authoritarian President Teodoro Obiang Nguema who has ruled for 40 years.

All will be sold with no reserve price. 

In February Swiss prosecutors said they were dropping charges of financial wrongdoing against Teodorin Obiang Nguema but were confiscating the luxury cars as part of the case.

Under the Swiss penal code, prosecutors can choose to drop charges in this category if defendants offer compensation "and restore a situation that is in conformity with the law." 

Playboy reputation 

Equatorial Guinea has also agreed to give Geneva 1.3 million Swiss francs to cover the costs of the case.

Vice president with responsibility for defense and security, Teodorin Obiang has a reputation for a playboy lifestyle.

In October 2017, a Paris court handed him a three-year suspended jail term after convicting Obiang of siphoning off public money to buy assets in France.

He was accused of spending more than 1,000 times his official annual salary on a six-story mansion in a posh part of the French capital, a fleet of fast cars and artworks, among other assets.

He was also given a suspended fine of 30 million euros.

In September, Brazilian media said that more than $16 million in cash and luxury watches were seized by Brazilian police and customs officers from the luggage of a delegation accompanying Obiang on a private visit.

Brazilian daily O Estado de Sao Paulo quoted a diplomatic source from Equatorial Guinea as saying the money was to pay for medical treatment Obiang was to undergo in Sao Paulo. 

The watches were for the "personal use" of the president's son and were engraved with his initials, the report said.

Obiang is reputedly on a fast track to succeed his father.

Last October, he was promoted from colonel directly to division general, without passing through the normal intermediary rank of brigade general.

The following month, he presided over a cabinet meeting for the first time.

The tiny West African nation is one of the continent's top petroleum producers and has a population of just 1.2 million.

The country is regularly cited by NGOs as one of the most corrupt in the world.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Darth Vader helmet among Hollywood treasures in $10 million auction

LOS ANGELES - Darth Vader's helmet from "The Empire Strikes Back" is among a vast collection of coveted Hollywood treasures going under the hammer next month, with experts predicting it could fetch nearly $500,000.

The mask and helmet is one of only a handful worn by actor David Prowse, who played Luke Skywalker's nemesis and -- spoiler alert -- father on-screen in the 1980 "Star Wars" blockbuster, making them the "holy grail" of science fiction artifacts, according to auction organizers.

"The catalog estimate is $250,000-$450,000, and you never know what something will go for until it crosses the block -- it could well exceed that," said Zach Pogemiller of auctioneer Profiles in History.

"Star Wars is always popular. It's never been hotter than it is right now, with the franchise continuing as strongly as it is."

The "Icons and Legends of Hollywood" sale will take place September 25-26 in Los Angeles, with nearly 1,000 lots together expected to sell for over $10 million.

It will feature items from some of Tinseltown's most iconic movies, ranging from Hollywood's golden age to contemporary action movies and sci-fi.

Up for grabs will be a black-and-white dress worn by Dorothy -- or more specifically, Judy Garland's camera double Barbara Koshay -- in 1939 classic "The Wizard Of Oz," which is estimated to reach up to $500,000.

A prototype moon buggy stolen by James Bond from villain Blofeld's secret lair in "Diamonds Are Forever" will also go under the hammer, with an upper estimate of $600,000.

Among additional items expected to trigger bidding frenzies are a dress worn by Rose (Kate Winslet) in "Titanic", the DeLorean car smashed by a train in "Back to the Future III," and an authentic best picture Oscar statuette from 1948.

"You always hear stories of movie studio personnel who rescued what are now priceless pieces from the dumpster because they were being thrown out," said Pogemiller.

"It's incredible that people really didn't have the foresight until relatively recently to preserve all of these important artifacts that are part of our cultural history."

amz/wd

source: news.abs-cbn.com

‘First’ Porsche model fails to sell in bungled auction

As the curtains parted, the frenzied car aficionados raced to get out their smartphones to capture the moment for posterity. Several of them cheered.

They had come to see Lot No. 362, the much-heralded Porsche Type 64, a swooping Nazi-era car that was built by automaker Ferdinand Porsche 9 years before he founded his car company.

The bidding on the avant-garde coupe, referred to by some car collectors as the “first” Porsche, had been expected to open at $13 million during an RM Sotheby’s Auction on Saturday night in Monterey, California. But something went awry, and the bidding started much higher than planned.

“When they mentioned 30 million to start, I thought that’s quite a strong starting price,” David Lee, a car collector and businessman from the Los Angeles area who was in the audience, said in an interview Sunday. The auctioneer had an accent, he said, “and didn’t say the teens well. Is he really saying 30 or 13?”

It was not entirely clear if the auctioneer’s accent, an error on the display screen or some combination of the two caused the confusion. The bidders were supposed to be bidding in increments of $1 million or less, but the screen showed them bidding in increments of $10 million.

In the frenzy, the high bid of $30 million zoomed up to $40 million. Then it hit $50 million and $60 million, before landing at $70 million. That would have been substantially higher than the record $48.4 million a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO fetched last year at another Sotheby’s auction.

That’s when the auctioneer abruptly declared that the high bid was actually $17 million, not $70 million.

What should have been the high point of the Monterey Car Week devolved into chaos, with car buffs gasping and groaning over the blunder. The one-of-a-kind Porsche, built for an unrealized road race on Germany’s new autobahn, through the Austrian Alps to Rome, failed to sell, and the auction was halted.

“As bidding opened on the Type 64, increments were mistakenly displayed on the screen, causing unfortunate confusion in the room,” RM Sotheby’s said in a statement Sunday. “We take pride in conducting our world-class auctions with integrity, and we take our responsibility to our clients very seriously.”

It did not name the auctioneer.

On Friday night, a $19.8 million sale of a McLaren F1 LM-Specification went off without a hitch. The auction house, which made news last year when a painting by British street artist Banksy sold for $1.4 million and then self-destructed, sought to tamp down any conjecture that this had been a publicity stunt.

“This was in no way intentional on behalf of anyone at RM Sotheby’s, rather an unfortunate misunderstanding amplified by excitement in the room,” the auction house said.

Bidders were required to register for the auction and were given numbered paddles, according to people in the audience. Although the classic rally car received a high bid of $17 million, RM Sotheby’s said that did not meet the “reserve,” which is a minimum price set by the seller.

John Bothwell, director of Pur Sang, an international automotive manufacturer, said in a phone interview Monday that the car world is still buzzing after the episode

“Conspiracy theories are abounding,” said Bothwell, who attended the auction. “It was a screw-up and, chiefly, it let the air out of the balloon when it went from $70 million to $17 million,” Bothwell said.

Bothwell said the auction company has a strong track record in the car auction world.

“I don’t really go along with the attitude that they should be booed,” he said. “Everybody has off-days.”

Just 3 of the Porsche-designed Type 64s were planned for production and only one remains. The car’s modified, air-cooled Volkswagen four-cylinder engine puts out about 32 horsepower and can reach a top speed of about 88 mph.

The car was supposed to be part of a propaganda campaign, marking the Nazis’ 1938 alliance with Italy and the absorption of Austria. Porsche also designed the KdF-Wagen, commissioned by Hitler as the people’s car, which became famous after the war as the Volkswagen Beetle.

Chris Harris of the British series “Top Gear” fawned over the Porsche Type 64 during a recent test drive.

“This is like breaking into a safe somewhere in America,” he said. “Someone finds an old safe in a building, and you crack it open and you find a little book that says ‘This is the recipe for Coca-Cola.’ ” That what this is in a car.”

An Instagram video of the auction posted by Lee, the collector, received more than 212,000 views as of Sunday night.

Lee said he had difficulty understanding the Sotheby’s auctioneer all weekend.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said. “It’s really an amazing situation that we witnessed.”

RM Sotheby’s was still advertising the car on its auction website. Sotheby’s acquired an ownership interest in RM Auctions, which specializes in vintage cars, in early 2015.

“We will continue making every effort to sell the car,” the auction house said.

Lee did not come away from the Monterey auctions empty-handed.

“I’m more of a Ferrari collector,” said Lee, who posted the winning bid on a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS auctioned by Gooding & Company.

He declined to say how much the winning bid was.


2019 The New York Times Company

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Over the moon: Nike sneakers sell for record $437,500

A new world record for a pair of sneakers was set at auction on Tuesday when an avid collector splashed out $437,500 on Nike's 1972 "Moon Shoe," Sotheby's said.

The sale smashed the previous record of $190,373 spent in 2017 on a pair of signed Converse worn by Michael Jordan in the 1984 Olympic basketball final, the New York-headquartered auction house said in a statement.

It was also well above the pre-sale estimate of $160,000, Sotheby's added.

Canadian collector Miles Nadal was the successful bidder in the online action, adding to the 99 pairs of other hard-to-find shoes that he bought in a private sale last week.

"I am thrilled to acquire the iconic Nike 'Moon Shoes,' one of the rarest pairs of sneakers ever produced, and a true historical artifact in sports history and pop culture," Nadal said.

Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman designed the flat racing "Moon Shoe," which was made for runners at the 1972 Olympic trials. 

Sotheby's said that just around 12 pairs were manufactured and that the set sold Tuesday was "one of only a handful of pairs known to exist".

"We are excited the iconic Nike Moon Shoe achieved more than double the previous world auction record for a sneaker today," said Sotheby's global e-commerce head Noah Wunsch.

The auction house joined up with streetwear marketplace Stadium Goods to sell 100 of the rarest sneakers ever made.

The 61-year-old Nadal spent $850,000 buying 99 of them privately on Wednesday with organizers holding back the 'Moon Shoe' for a public sale.

Nadal plans to display the footwear, which includes Nike sneakers based on those worn by Marty McFly in hit movie "Back to the Future II," at his private museum in Toronto.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

$160,000 Nike shoes star in first-of-its kind Sotheby's auction

NEW YORK -- Move over Monet. Nike is hot on your heels.

Sotheby's in New York announced on Thursday its first-ever auction dedicated to sneakers, underlining their fast-growing status as collectibles able to command tens of thousands of dollars.

Sotheby's is teaming up with streetwear marketplace Stadium Goods to auction 100 pairs of the rarest sneakers ever produced, including a sample of one of the first Nike Inc running shoes with a pre-sale high estimate of $160,000 (P8.2 million).

The Nike "Moon Shoe" is one of only 12 pairs created. It was designed by Nike co-founder and track coach Bill Bowerman for runners at the 1972 Olympics trials and the pair up for auction is handmade, Stadium Goods said.

Other sneakers include 2011 and 2016 versions of the "Back to the Future Part II" limited-edition shoes by Nike that were inspired by the 1989 film starring Michael J. Fox.

The 2016 version of the futuristic shoe, complete with self-lacing technology, is expected to sell for between $50,000 and $70,000.

"We’ve long talked about how sneakers are this generation’s luxury fashion, and being able to collaborate with a brand with the history and esteem of Sotheby’s is further proof of that," John McPheters, co-founder of New York-based Stadium Goods, said in a statement.

Other shoes in the online sale, beginning on Thursday and ending on July 23, include sought-after and limited-edition sneakers produced by Adidas, Air Jordan and rapper Kanye West's Yeezy collection.

Noah Wunsch, global head of eCommerce at Sotheby's, said the sneaker sale was bringing together "art, culture and fashion" and marked another step in the auction house's expansion of offerings of highly coveted luxury goods.

The shoes are on public exhibit at Sotheby's in New York through July 23.

The highest price fetched at public auction for sneakers is thought to be $190,373 in 2017 for a pair of signed Converse shoes said to have been worn by Michael Jordan in the 1984 Olympic basketball final. The shoes were auctioned through California sports memorabilia company SCP.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Germany raises 6.5 billion euros from sale of 5G frequencies

BERLIN -- Germany has raised some 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) from the sale of 5G frequencies to telecoms firms, the Federal Network Agency, said Wednesday, announcing the result of a 3-month auction.

The sale far exceeded expectations of between three billion and five billion euros, and the windfall will go towards closing the digital gap in a country whose wireless networks rank only 46th in the world for download speeds.

Germany's 3 main mobile network providers -- Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica Germany (O2) -- and 1&1/Drillisch, which specializes in internet services, bought the 41 frequency blocks on offer, with Deutsche Telekom taking the lion's share, the network agency said in a statement.

5G is the latest high-speed generation of cellular mobile communications.

It promises radically quicker transfers of data, making possible widespread use of artificial intelligence and other high-tech advancements such as self-driving cars and "telemedicine".

Berlin will require the winning bidders to offer the service to at least 98 percent of German households and along motorways and rail lines.

The United States has urged Berlin to bar operators from building networks on hardware from Chinese tech firm Huawei, arguing that the equipment could help Beijing spy on Western companies and governments.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Virus-packed laptop sells as artwork for over $1.3 million

WASHINGTON -- For Chinese artist Guo O Dong, the simple black Samsung laptop computer, loaded with six potent viruses, symbolizes one of the world's most frightening threats.

On Tuesday his creation "The Persistence of Chaos" rocked the art world, selling for more than $1.3 million (P68 million) in a New York online auction.

There's nothing special about the 2008 10-inch Netbook, running Microsoft's now-outdated Windows XP. 

But loaded onto its memory chips are the computing world's equivalents of the most deadly infectious diseases: "I LOVE YOU" from 2000, "Sobig" of 2003, "MyDoom" (2004), "DarkTequila" (2013), "BlackEnergy" (2015), and the most notorious of all, the "WannaCry" ransomware from two years ago.

It is a powerful symbol of the threat on simple laptop can pose to the entire world. The six trojans, worms and malware loaded on it have caused at least $95 billion in damage around the world, according to Guo.

Guo is an internet artist "whose work critiques modern day extremely online culture," the auction site, organized by cybersecurity group Deep Instinct, said.

The computer, viewed via an online video stream, is harmless in its auction state -- turned on, but not connected to any network or the internet.

The auction site says it is "airgapped" -- its wireless and internet connections physically and electronically plugged. 

But it comes with ominous warning to the buyer not to unleash its pathogenic programs -- possible by unplugging its connection hardware, or by simply inserting a thumb drive.

The site stresses that the artwork is for research use only, saying that anyone who submitted a bid contractually agreed that they "have no intention of disseminating any malware." 

At the same time, the site appeared to acknowledge that the buyer might not heed the agreement. 

"Please remember that these are live and dangerous malware samples," it said.

"Running them unconstrained means that you will infect yourself or others with vicious and dangerous malware."

The buyer was not identified.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Told US security at risk, Chinese firm seeks to sell Grindr dating app

Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd is seeking to sell Grindr LLC, the popular gay dating app it has owned since 2016, after a US government national security panel raised concerns about its ownership, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has informed Kunlun that its ownership of West Hollywood, California-based Grindr constitutes a national security risk, the two sources said.

CFIUS' specific concerns and whether any attempt was made to mitigate them could not be learned. The United States has been increasingly scrutinizing app developers over the safety of personal data they handle, especially if some of it involves US military or intelligence personnel.

Kunlun had said last August it was preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) of Grindr. As a result of CFIUS' intervention, Kunlun has now shifted its focus to an auction process to sell Grindr outright, given that the IPO would have kept Grindr under Kunlun's control for a longer period of time, the sources said.

Grindr has hired investment bank Cowen Inc to handle the sale process, and is soliciting acquisition interest from US investment firms, as well as Grindr's competitors, according to the sources.

The development represents a rare, high-profile example of CFIUS undoing an acquisition that has already been completed. Kunlun took over Grindr through two separate deals between 2016 and 2018 without submitting the acquisition for CFIUS review, according to the sources, making it vulnerable to such an intervention.

The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Kunlun representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Grindr and Cowen declined to comment. A spokesman for the US Department of the Treasury, which chairs CFIUS, said the panel does not comment publicly on individual cases.

Grindr, which describes itself as the world's largest social networking app for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, had 27 million users as of 2017. The company collects personal information submitted by its users, including a person's location, messages, and in some cases even someone's HIV status, according to its privacy policy.

CFIUS' intervention in the Grindr deal underscores its focus on the safety of personal data, after it blocked the acquisitions of US money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc and mobile marketing firm AppLovin by Chinese bidders in the last two years.

CFIUS does not always reveal the reasons it chooses to block a deal to the companies involved, as doing so could potentially reveal classified conclusions by US agencies, said Jason Waite, a partner at law firm Alston & Bird LLP focusing on the regulatory aspects of international trade and investment.

"Personal data has emerged as a mainstream concern of CFIUS," Waite said.

The unraveling of the Grindr deal also highlights the pitfalls facing Chinese acquirers of US companies seeking to bypass the CFIUS review system, which is based mostly on voluntary deal submissions.

Previous examples of the US ordering the divestment of a company after the acquirer did not file for CFIUS review include China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation's acquisition of Seattle-based aircraft component maker Mamco in 1990, Ralls Corporation's divestment of four wind farms in Oregon in 2012, and Ironshore Inc's sale of Wright & Co, a provider of professional liability coverage to US government employees such as law enforcement personnel and national security officials, to Starr Companies in 2016.

PRIVACY CONCERNS

Kunlun acquired a majority stake in Grindr in 2016 for $93 million. It bought out the remainder of the company in 2018.

Grindr's founder and chief executive officer, Joel Simkhai, stepped down in 2018 after Kunlun bought the remaining stake in the company.

Kunlun's control of Grindr has fueled concerns among privacy advocates in the United States. US senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Grindr last year demanding answers with regards to how the app would protect users' privacy under its Chinese owner.

"CFIUS made the right decision in unwinding Grindr’s acquisition. It should continue to draw a line in the sand for future foreign acquisition of sensitive personal data," Markey and Blumenthal said in a statement on Wednesday.

Kunlun is one of China's largest mobile gaming companies. It was part of a buyout consortium that acquired Norwegian internet browser business Opera Ltd for $600 million in 2016.

Founded in 2008 by Tsinghua University graduate Zhou Yahui, Kunlun also owns Qudian Inc, a Chinese consumer credit provider, and Xianlai Huyu, a Chinese mobile gaming company.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Hitler' paintings' auction stirs controversy in Germany

NUREMBERG, Germany - Five paintings attributed to Adolf Hitler will be auctioned off Saturday in the German city of Nuremberg, sparking anger that the Nazi memorabilia market is alive and well.

Nuremberg's mayor Ulrich Maly has condemned the upcoming sale as being "in bad taste," speaking to Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Among the items to go under the hammer are a mountain lake view with a starting price of 45,000 euros ($51,000) and a wicker armchair with a swastika symbol presumed to have belonged to the late Nazi dictator.

The Weidler auction house is holding the "special sale" in Nuremberg, the city in which Nazi war criminals were tried in 1945.

The auction made headlines days before its start after several artworks were withdrawn Thursday on suspicion they were fakes and prosecutors stepped in.

Sales of alleged artworks by Hitler -- who for a time tried to make a living as an artist in his native Austria -- regularly spark outrage that collectors are willing to pay high prices for art linked to the country's Nazi past.

"There's a long tradition of this trade in devotional objects linked to Nazism," Stephan Klingen of the Central Institute for Art History in Munich told AFP.

"Every time there's a media buzz about it... and the prices they're bringing in have been rising constantly. Personally, that's something that quite annoys me."

'Ambitious amateur'

In Germany, public displays of Nazi symbols are illegal but exceptions can be made, in educational or historic contexts for instance.

To comply with the law, the auction house pixelated the swastikas on the wicker chair and a blue-and-white Meissen porcelain vase in catalog photos, and has covered them up on-site.

But none of the paintings include any of the totalitarian party's insignia.

According to Klingen, Hitler had the style of "a moderately ambitious amateur" but his creations did not stand out from "hundreds of thousands" of comparable works from the period -- making their authenticity especially hard to verify.

A haul of 26 pieces originally featured in the catalog have been removed from sale after suspicions were raised that they might be fakes.

The watercolors, drawings and paintings bearing "Hitler" signatures featured views of Vienna or Nuremberg, female nudes and still lifes, the auction house said. They were offered by 23 different owners. 

Prosecutors on Wednesday collected 63 artworks from the Weidler premises bearing the signature "A.H." or "A. Hitler," including some not slated to go under the hammer Saturday.

The Nuremberg-Fuerth prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation against persons unknown "on suspicion of falsifying documents and attempted fraud," chief prosecutor Antje Gabriels-Gorsolke told AFP.

"If they turn out to be fakes, we will then try to determine who knew what in the chain of ownership," she said.

Weidler said in a statement that the paintings' withdrawal from sale "does not automatically mean they are fakes".

source: news.abs-cbn.com