How Mark Zuckerberg Spent 3 Billion On A Work Of Art 🎨

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi Sold In 2017 For 450 Million dollars.

But that’s not even close to the all time record for price paid for an artwork.

Enter Artist David Choe.

David is a graffiti artist who made his first million dollars gambling and selling art. He slowly became popular in certain scenes via galleries, making art in public and word of mouth.

Catch more of his bio here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Choe

But this is why I’m sharing his story on The Hobby Letter. And it’s not for his gambling success, I promise.

David was contacted to do an office mural for Facebook in 2005 by then Facebook president Sean Parker (Played by Timberlake in the movie)

David agreed to paint the building for 60k.

Then Sean Parker offered Choe an option. 60k Cash or 60k in Facebook stock (options) amounting to roughly .25% of the company at the time!

12 Years Later Facebook went public.

Choe’s stock was worth 200 Million Dollars.

While it’s unclear if he still holds some or all of the stock (it was reported years ago he sold a small amount), today it would be worth well over 1 billion dollars.

And .25% of META would be worth 3 Billion.

Making the “artwork” much more expensive over time than Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi.

What’s the takeaway for you and me? How can an artist or creative person repeat some of this success? And tap into equity for their services?

Let’s dive into the good stuff:

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