Maezawa's $110.5M Art Buy

Japanese e-commerce billionaire Yusaku Maezawa paid $110.5 million for Basquiat's Untitled at auction.

Or it could have

1. 20,091

   lives from malariaGiveWell estimates its top charities save a life for $3,000 to $5,500. We use the higher figure: $5,500, the cost through Against Malaria Foundation bed nets. GiveWell, How much does it cost to save a life?

2. 1 million

   hungry kids for a whole yearNo Kid Hungry: $1 can help provide 10 meals for kids. Three meals a day for 365 days is 1,095 meals, about $110 per child per year. No Kid Hungry, What your dollars can do

3. 2.8 million

   people clean drinking watercharity: water: about $40 funds clean water for one person, on average, in rural communities. charity: water, How much clean water will my donation provide

4. 6,193

   homeless veteransAt the U.S. median rent of $1,487 a month (Census, 2024), about $17,844 a year. U.S. Census Bureau median gross rent, via USAFacts

5. 3,096

   families escaping abuse a safe home for two yearsThe federal transitional housing program for survivors pays market rent for up to 24 months. At the U.S. median rent of $1,487 a month (Census, 2024), that is about $35,688 per family. U.S. DOJ Office on Violence Against Women, Transitional housing

Share it

One card per need, sized for Instagram and TikTok (1080 by 1350).

Lives savedKids fedClean waterVeterans housedFamilies safe

The purchase: Forbes, May 2017. The full story on Rich vs Reality →