Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- An Abu Dhabi license plate sold for 52.2 million dirhams ($14 million) at auction today, setting a world record and demonstrating the exceptional personal wealth in the United Arab Emirates' largest sheikhdom.

Saeed Abdel Ghaffar Khouri, 25, bought the license plate No. 1, breaking the previous record held by his relative Talal Ali Mohammad Khouri, who acquired license plate No. 5 for 25.2 million dirhams in September, said Emirates Auction Managing Director Abdulla Al Mannaie.

``We wanted to be No. 1,'' Khouri's brother Hamdan Khouri told reporters after the sale. ``Who doesn't like to be the best in the world?''

The U.A.E., owner of around 8 percent of the world's proven oil reserves and with a population of less than 5 million, had an average gross domestic product per capita of $55,200 in 2007, the seventh highest in the world, according to the CIA World Factbook, boosted by record oil prices that topped $100 this year.

The entire auction of 90 plates, including numbers 100, 1111, 2001 and 31313, raised 89 million dirhams, Al Mannaie said.

Proceeds from the auction go toward building a specialized emergency hospital in the U.A.E., said Emirates Auction in its promotional material. The last five license-plate auctions it organized raised $56 million from 300 plates, which went toward the support of special-needs projects and victims of road accidents, it said.

Chaos

Khouri won the auction in Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace hotel amid chaotic scenes in the auditorium, which was packed with more than 700 people. The Abu Dhabi businessman had to push through photographers, cameramen and spectators to the front of the room to be seen by the auctioneer before thrusting his number into the air for the final time, his mobile phone at his ear throughout the bidding.

The sum of money was ``normal'' for his family, Hamdan Khouri said after the auction. ``I was prepared to spend as much as 100 million dirhams.''

The plate will be kept on one of the family cars, and he has no intention of selling it, he said.

The U.A.E. earned approximately $60 billion from oil sales last year, or more than $12,000 for every resident. Abu Dhabi controls more than 90 percent of the U.A.E.'s oil reserves.

Rolls Royce Group Plc's car dealerships in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are, along with Tokyo, London and Beverley Hills, among the top five dealerships for the luxury-car brand in the world.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, known as ADIA, is believed to be the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, with assets of around $875 billion, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Brown in Dubai at mbrown42@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 16, 2008 16:07 EST