Mystery Buyer of $450 Million ‘Salvator Mundi’ Was a Saudi Prince
But the prince, Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, is the mystery buyer of Leonardo da Vinci’s
painting “Salvator Mundi,” which fetched a record $450.3 million at auction last month, documents show.
Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, a little known Saudi prince, paid a record $450.3
million for Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi.” Here are a few other buyers with deep pockets.
Prince Bader sat on the board of an energy company
that did business in Saudi Arabia, Energy Holdings International, according to its website, and a short biography there describes him as “one of Saudi Arabia’s youngest entrepreneurs.” (It was not immediately clear if the company is still operating.)
As for real estate, which Prince Bader described to Christie’s as the source of his money, the biography says he “has also been active in real estate projects in Saudi Arabia, Dubai
and the rest of the Middle East over five years,” including in partnership with “large reputed companies.” The date of the biography could not be determined.
The revelation that Prince Bader is the purchaser, according to documents reviewed by , links one of the most
captivating mysteries of the art world with palace intrigues in Saudi Arabia that are shaking the region.
A government statement about the commission noted that the development of the province was important to the crown prince’s plans for the kingdom, known as Saudi Vision 2030, and last week the Saudi news network Al Arabiya reported
that Prince Mohammed had posed for selfies there with locals while touring the desert on a four-wheeled buggy.
After nearly 30 years of passing the chairmanship of the group from one Salman to another, King Salman
and Prince Mohammed instead put Prince Bader in the post.
