Check out Melbourne billionaire Adrian Portelli’s new big boy toy
What do billionaires do when they have all the flash cars and homes money can buy? Get themselves a private jet. For Adrian ‘Lambo guy’ Portelli, that’s a sleek 2001 Bombardier.
Fiona Byrne
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Adrian Portelli has taken flight.
The Melbourne-based billionaire had added a private jet to his collection of big ticket toys.
In a week where the LMCT+ businessman forked out more than $2.5m on a highly prized Victorian heritage number plate and took delivery of a stunning Lamborghini Huracan STO, which industry sites say with extras and on-road costs would leave little change from $1m, AIR AP took to the skies headed for Europe.
The 2001 Bombardier is believed to have been previously owned by Melbourne advertising legend and philanthropist Harold Mitchell.
Portelli added it to his fleet of luxury cars and homes about eight weeks ago and it now sports Portelli’s AP initials on its tailfin and under its wings.
The social media savvy businessman confirmed his jetsetting purchase with a social media post reading: “I did a thing…. Welcome to AIR AP.”
Portelli, his fiance Karlie Butler and their young son boarded AIR AP on Saturday for their overseas sojourn.
Portelli certainly enjoys his wealth.
He dropped a record $2.54m for the Victorian heritage number 20 plate at an online auction hosted by Trading Garage on Tuesday.
It is the highest price paid at auction for a Victorian number plate.
Seventy seven bids were placed for the rare item and, incredibly, four bidders were still battling for the plate as bidding soared past $2.4m, before the now famous number 20 was knocked down to its deep pocketed new owner.
The plate was described in the auction catalogue as being “extremely rare. as not only one of 90, two digit Victorian number plates in existence, but one of only nine that are a rounded number.”
While unable to confirm the identity of the plate purchaser due to privacy reasons, Trading Garage co-founder David Nankervis said he was delighted with the price achieved.
“We are definitely happy with the result, it is a new (Victorian) auction record, and outside of NSW 1 and Queensland Q 1 selling earlier in the year, it is the most expensive plate ever sold at auction,” Nankervis said.
“The Vic 14 plate sold in 2022 for $2.27m, so getting $2.54m on Tuesday was a huge result.
“There was a huge amount of interest in the plate and the auction.
“Even after $2.4m there were four different bidders still going and there were more than 4700 people watching as the auction closed out.”
The NSW 1 plate sold in January for $11,505,000 and the Q 1 plate sold the same month for $5,655,000.
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