The codex was sold to Bill Gates by Christie's auction house on 11 November 1994 in New York for US$30,802,500. Until 2021, the codex remained the most expensive book ever sold.
The answer is the Codex Leicester, an ancient manuscript written around 1510 by da Vinci in mirror code, which was purchased by Earl of Leicester Thomas Coke in 1719 and then bought by Gates for more than $30million in 1994.
TINDERA: So how much is the Codex worth today? If all we do is adjust the $30.8 million that Gates paid for it for inflation, that gets us to somewhere around $50 million today.
This codex was gathered in the late 16th century by the sculptor Pompeo Leoni, who dismembered some of Leonardo's notebooks in its formation. It is now in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
The Codex Hammer, also known as the Codex Leicester, is a coveted collector's item: named after the oil tycoon Armand Hammer, this treasure was acquired in 1994 by Bill Gates and is stored in the Bill Gates Collection in Seattle. The codex contains some indispensable texts for Leonardo research.
Bill Gates purchased the Codex Leicester from Armand Hammer when it was housed in the Hammer Museum. FYI. There are other copies of the Gutenberg in private hands that are not listed in this article.
The “Salvator Mundi,” said to be painted by Leonardo da Vinci and sold for a record-setting $450 million to a buyer reportedly on behalf of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has recently been downgraded by curators at the Prado.
In 1994, he purchased Leonardo da Vinci's "Codex Leicester," a manuscript that dates back to the 16th century. He paid $30.8 million for the journal at auction, a price that made it the most expensive book ever sold. Gates has put the notebook out on loan to select museums this summer.
The Priory of Sion hid her identity to protect her from possible threats to her life. The real meaning of the last message is that the Grail is buried beneath the small pyramid directly below La Pyramide Inversée, the inverted glass pyramid of the Louvre.
Back in 1994, the estate of original Forbes 400 member Armand Hammer put the Codex up for sale at Christie's. The new buyer? None other than the country's richest man that year: 39-year-old Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. At the time, Gates paid $30.8 million for it.
It was not due to legal troubles (arrests) or internal conflict, but the team felt they had already achieved their goal. CODEX was founded with one and only one goal in mind: “to give the dominating PC games group at the time, RELOADED, some serious competition.”
In a new profile on 60 Minutes, he opened up about an important personal inspiration and possession: one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks. Called the Codex Leicester, Gates scooped up the notebook for $30.8 million in 1994, making it the most valuable manuscript in the world.
It was likely purchased by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, via a proxy. The painting has not been seen publicly since the sale, and as of 2022 its whereabouts remained unknown.
The codex now belongs to the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, who bought it at auction at Christie's in 1994 for $30.8 million.
Bill Gates' net worth is US$110 billion (AU$163 billion), and it turns out the Microsoft founder indirectly owns US$1.8 billion (AU$2.7 billion) worth of Apple shares.
Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci
The New York Times reported the buyer was acting for a Saudi prince, Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud—the painting has since been under the ownership of the Saudi Arabian culture ministry.
Mona Lisa's Record Valuation
In 1962, The Mona Lisa received a valuation of $100m. If you account for inflation, she's worth over $834m in today's money. This is almost double the $450m paid for the Salvator Mundi in November 2017.
The Mona Lisa hangs behind bulletproof glass in a gallery of the Louvre Museum in Paris, where it has been a part of the museum's collection since 1804. It was part of the royal collection before becoming the property of the French people during the Revolution (1787–99).
Leonardo da Vinci
His estimated IQ scores range from 180 to 220 by different measures. He's one of the most celebrated painters in history, revered for his technological innovations such as flying machines, an armoured vehicle, concentrated solar power, and adding machines.
Known to be attributed to one of the Italian High Renaissance artists Leonardo Da Vinci, the painting is worth $450.3 million and was bought by Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud on 15 November 2017 in an auction by Christie's in New York, setting a new record for the most expensive painting ever sold at public auction.
The Mona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest known painting insurance valuation in history at US$100 million in 1962, equivalent to $1 billion as of 2023.
Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi. Painted by one of the Renaissance greatest masters is to go under the hammer at Christie's. Titled Salvator Mundi, it is one of fewer than 20 known paintings by Leonardo and the only one in private hands.
Da Vinci's descendants still live in the Tuscan region of his birth and include farmers, office workers, an upholsterer and an artist. While the family name was originally rooted in its place of origin, the "da" was discarded over time.
Arguably the greatest collection of Leonardo da Vinci drawings in the world, owned by the Queen and normally kept away from public view at Windsor Castle, is to have its biggest public display.