Dec 6, 2017

Buyer of $450 million da Vinci revealed to be Saudi prince

Painting by Leonardo da Vinci entitled 'Salvator Mundi'. Photo: Hoo-Me.com / MediaPunch/IPX

A major art world mystery has been solved as the anonymous buyer who spent a record $450 million on a da Vinci painting last month has been revealed to be a little known Saudi prince, per the NY Times.

As the Times points out, the buyer, Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, is close associate of Mohammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's crown prince. Two weeks before Prince Bader bid on the painting, Prince Mohammad was conducting what he called an anti-corruption purge, targeting dozens of wealthy Saudis and their assets.

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Felix Salmon

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Breaking down the Tesla obsession

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Tesla is the company of the moment — the prime exemplar of just about any big and important trend that you might care about.

Why it matters: Almost every reader of finance and business news will have at least one strongly-held opinion about Tesla. What you might not realize is just how widely those opinions range, and the degree to which they map onto much broader views of the world.

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Fadel Allassan

1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Gallup: Party preference swings dramatically in favor of Democrats

Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Americans' political party preferences have swung sharply from a 2-point Republican advantage in January to an 11-point Democratic advantage in July, according to Gallup's monthly averages of telephone polls in 2020.

The big picture: The dramatic shift is more a product of fewer people identifying as Republican or Republican-leaning (down 8% since January) than gains among those who identify as Democratic or Democratic-leaning (up 5%).

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Ursula Perano

2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Nancy Pelosi: "I yearn for other Republican presidents"

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on President Trump Thursday to exercise "the full power" of the Defense Production Act to meet coronavirus equipment needs and accused him of engaging in a "massive dereliction of duty" by ignoring science during the pandemic.

What she's saying: "I yearn for other Republican presidents," Pelosi said at a press conference. "While we may have disagreed on many points, but at least we had a shared commitment to the governance of our country."