- Someone paid $40,500 for a necklace that Mark Zuckerberg may have only worn once. Its retail value is only $425. But they also get a video from Zuckerberg himself.
You may have noticed a difference in Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s style lately. He rocks longer, curlier, messier hair, and silver or gold chains. It feels like a sea change for Zuckerberg, who, for many years after he founded Facebook, was usually seen in only plain gray T-shirts or hoodies.
Anyway, it just so happens that Tiltify, a fundraising platform, has auctioned off one of Zuckerberg’s “gold chains he wore during the early days of experimenting with his new style,” according to the auction house: a 6.5mm Cuban chain gold vermeil necklace. While the chain’s market value is only $425, per the post (we’re surprised someone with a net worth of $224 billion wouldn’t don pricier bling), the winning bid happened to go for $40,500—roughly 100 times its original value.
In total, 96 bids were made for Zuckerberg’s necklace, which he may have worn only once. It started out with a $2,500 bid and kept soaring. Most of the bidders, including the person with the winning bid, chose to remain anonymous.
Notably, the chain that was auctioned off is not the same gold chain he had designed and engraved with a prayer he sings to his daughters every night, or the one rapper T-Pain gave him. In the post, there is a photo, it appears, of Zuckerberg wearing the necklace.
For what it’s worth, the winning bid didn’t just receive a necklace. “Along with this iconic chain you will also receive an authenticity certification in the form of a personal video from the gold chain owner himself, Mark Zuckerberg, to congratulate you on continuing the legacy of this piece of jewelry,” the auction house page reads.
The auction was done to support Inflection Grants, which doles out $2,000 micro-grants to those pursuing creative endeavors. According to Tiltify, Zuckerberg decided to take part in the auction after hearing about the Long Journey charity poker tournament, which was held Wednesday this week, and the cause (Inflection Grants) it’s supporting.