Lewis Hamilton is one of the richest athletes in the world and he once spent a quarter of a million dollars on a personalized number plate.
Hamilton is a seven-time World Champion, and has become one of the most marketable athletes in the world. He is also one of F1’s highest earners, having signed a contract worth $147 million dollars with Mercedes in 2021, which keeps him at the team till 2023. His bumper contract made him the highest paid British sportsperson at that time.
According to several websites, including Celebrity Net Worth, he has a net worth of about $285 million. The 37-year old also earns a hug amount of money from the several endorsements and personal sponsors he has. His early income from just his sponsors adds up to more than $15 million.
Away from the track, we’ve seen him lead a luxurious lifestyle. The seven-time Champion lives in Monaco like many other F1 stars, and has a huge collection of super cars, which is something he seems to adore.
Lewis Hamilton offered $6 million dollars to have “F1” on his number plate
Hamilton is a big car lover. As a result, he wanted to customize his most prized possession in a way that he liked. Hamilton had a Mercedes-Benz car, and wanted the number plate to resemble his own name.
He wanted the name on the plate to be “LEW 1S”, but unfortunately it was already taken. Property tycoon Bob Lewis bought the registration himself in 2007 for about $62,000. Hamilton however, really wanted that very name on his number plate, so he decided to splurge some big cash on that.
What a great number plate for @LewisHamilton ! pic.twitter.com/hDy14zKaGk
— AutomobileRacingClub (@Autoraceclub) March 20, 2015
According to sources, he offered more than $250,000 and the offer was to good to refuse for Bob Lewis. It meant that Hamilton could now comfortably use the “LEW 1S” name on his plate.
It’s also reported that Hamilton wanted to put in even more money on another plate. The Brit apparently offered a sum of more than $6 million for the registration plate, “F1” which was being used by businessman Afzal Khan. To Hamilton’s disappointment, Afzal declined the offer and still uses the plate on his Bugatti Veyron.