ExcessvsNeed
Excess

Winfrey's $87.9M Art Buy

Oprah Winfrey · Paid $87.9 Million for Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II

$87.9 million
Need

Could have saved

15,982

lives from malaria

GiveWell 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?

Guinness World Records states Winfrey bought Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II at Christie's on November 8, 2006 for $87.9 million.

Or it could have

  1. 15,982

    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. 802,740

    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. 2.2 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. 4,926

    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. 2,463

    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

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Winfrey's $87.9M Art Buy, $87.9 million, vs 15,982 lives from malaria

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The purchase: Guinness World Records. The full story on Rich vs Reality →