The very first Ferrari Luce sold at a Monterey Car Week auction over the weekend, and it set a record price for any new car. It was purchased by the same billionaire who set the same record at the same event with a different Ferrari the year before. The price tag didn’t just set a record for a new car, it absolutely shattered it. And now we know exactly who won this big-ticket auction.
The unexpected selling price has stirred the global automotive internet into a frenzy, with all kinds of people tossing out serious terms like money laundering to explain the price tag. Apparently, they don’t understand the impact a literal first-of-its-kind Ferrari can have on affluent Ferrari connoisseurs – from both an enthusiast and an investment standpoint, as well as a charitable one.
Ground-Breaking Ferrari Goes Into Classic 250 GTO Territory
Ferrari Luce Chassis 0RM Sotheby’s
Forty million US dollars. That’s a great deal to pay for any car, new or used, and while there are no official lists, this is certainly in the top 10 for all-time public sales. The hammer price of $40 million at RM Sotheby’s Pebble Beach auction is certainly the most ever publicly paid for a new car.
The fact that it’s an electric Ferrari, the first electric Ferrari with controversial styling, just makes it all the more surprising and exciting. It took some time for news of the new owner to filter out, but now we know more about the man who has grabbed all the headlines.
Photos from the event showed the winning bidder in a red suit jacket, white pants, and red hat and sneakers. Commenters immediately seized on the fact that none of the three reds matched, but it’s the amount of greenback he spent that really matters here.
Who Is This Mysterious Billionaire?
Ferrari Luce Chassis 0RM Sotheby’s
The high bidder was Dr Herbert “Herbie” Wertheim, an optometrist, inventor, and investor. A 2019 profile in Forbes detailed Dr. Wertheim’s rise from facing charges at 16 in Florida to becoming a billionaire.
Wertheim said that the judge offered him a choice between the state reformatory or the Navy, and he picked the Navy. He studied physics and chemistry while enlisted, and a year later made his first investment buying shares in LearJet.
After the Navy, he studied optometry and earned a B.S. in optical engineering and a Doctor of Optometry degree. His engineering work helped develop UV-blocking coatings for eyeglasses, and Brain Power Incorporated, the company he founded, is now one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of optical tints in the world.
Dr. Wertheim has made hundreds of millions of dollars in publicized donations to universities and hospitals. He has also, evidently, developed a taste for Ferraris. Last year, he bought the black and yellow Tailor Made Ferrari SP3 Daytona – the final Daytona and a car that was never supposed to be made.
Both the 599+1-numbered Daytona and the VIN 0 Luce were sold to benefit “The Ferrari Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity, to fund future educational initiatives.” That’s how the auction listing describes the sale, repeatedly. While information about that charity is all but impossible to find, a Ferrari spokesperson told Observer that the Foundation is “a collaboration with Save the Children, whereby Ferrari made a significant contribution to help rebuild the Aveson Charter School in Altadena, California, whose campus was tragically destroyed by the Eaton Wildfire earlier in 2025.” This sale, the report says, will help benefit a Ferrari-supported technical school set to open in Maranello, as well as undisclosed efforts in the US.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Ferrari CZ26 Front 3/4 ViewFerrari
Every time a car sells for big money and people don’t agree with the price, “money laundering” is always the cry. Forget that a massively public sale in the US with funds going to a highly audited charity would be a horrible vehicle for that purpose; it’s really much simpler. The Doctor, whatever your thoughts on his eyesight, now has two things he didn’t have on Friday: a charitable tax receipt for somewhere around $38 million, and something that nobody else can ever have unless he lets them (or dies).
Maybe a third thing. It’s all rumors and innuendo, but paying $26 million last year and $40 million this year for Ferrari’s charities probably helps secure a preferred spot on the list for anything you might want from Ferrari in the future. Maybe even the other car Ferrari brought to the event.
Sources: RM Sotheby’s, Forbes, Observer
