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Jony Ive and Marc Newson's Red charity auction raises $26 million

Jony Ive and Marc Newson's Red charity auction raises $26 million

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mac pro red
mac pro red

"Jony and Marc's (Red) auction" at Sotheby's has ended and in total the curated collection sold for about $13 million. Many of the top items went for vastly more than expected — the red Mac Pro was estimated to sell for between $40,000 and $60,000, but when the gavel fell it brought in $977,000. The proceeds of the auction will go to The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Other big sellers included the (Red) desk, which went for nearly $1.7 million and the custom Leica camera, which sold for $1.8 million.

The auction itself, as Vanity Fair reports, was an over-the-top affair filled with celebrities and was also attended by Apple CEO Tim Cook. Bono, who helped organize the auction, sang at the event and announced that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has promised to match the proceeds, quipping "now that’s real bipartisanship." With that match, the total raised by the auction came to around $26 million.

Earlier this month, Ive discussed how he and Newson selected the items that would be auctioned off. "The criteria that we both had," Ive said, "was we just both wanted to own each one really badly." The two later completed their media blitz with an appearance on Charlie Rose, and Newson said the two curated the auction to produce items that were accessible and not necessarily just "expensive," but added that "we're now faced with a situation where we're trying to raise money. This is not like art." Those ideals combined to create an eclectic set of items ranging from a signed Stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars to an ostentatious set of gold earbuds (which sold for $461,000).

You can see pictures of more of the items from the auction in our photo essay.