Why Herbie Wertheim bought the $40m Ferrari Luce at Pebble Beach

“We were discussing it amongst ourselves,” Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna tells us. “And there were different opinions. Personally, I thought this car might achieve $5m, but in the end it exceeded our expectations.”

Ferrari Luce eclipses the Monterey auction record

That is putting it mildly. TG.com attended RM Sotheby’s eagerly awaited Saturday-night Monterey sale, where there was literally standing room only when the former Nick Mason McLaren F1 GTR sold for a record $34.65m. On our way out, we passed the white Ferrari Luce, certain that we had already seen the evening’s headline-grabbing spectacle.

We were wrong. A few hours later, Luce ‘Chassis 0’ changed hands for $40m. The price provoked a type of internet fury - especially among those already no fans of the electric Ferrari - that psychologists have yet to classify. Even observers who were not enraged questioned whether Ferrari had arranged an elaborate PR exercise to ‘save face’, particularly as every cent raised was destined for charity. Some others concluded that the buyer was making an unusually public tax write-off.

Herbie Wertheim and his $40m Ferrari Luce

I was unable to test that theory with Herbie Wertheim when I briefly met him in the foyer of Pebble Beach’s main lodge 12 hours later. Still, I was pleased to shake his hand. He appeared entirely compos mentis, and wore a particularly smart red hat. Just a few metres away, on one of the world’s most gilded fairways, sat some of the finest Ferraris ever made: several 250 GTOs, a 275 GTB/4 NART Spider, and my own favourite, a 250 GT Sperimentale Coupe.

By Pebble Beach’s already exalted standards, 2026 was an exceptional year. But every one of those cars - including the eventual ‘best of show’, the former Clark Gable Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster - was overshadowed in conversation, at least, by an electric Ferrari. Yes, really.

What does that tell us? Wertheim clearly is not the type to involve himself in PR stunts, although his appearance on stage in the Casa Ferrari VIP area beside his new acquisition implied that he was enjoying his sudden notoriety. Now 87, Wertheim has acquired a fondness for Ferraris and for making playful statements through them. At RM Sotheby’s major Monterey-week auction a year earlier, he stunned the motoring world by paying $26m for a Ferrari Daytona SP3. The arrangement was the same: all proceeds went to the company’s educational foundation. It was his first Ferrari. This year, he spent $13m more, while gaining considerably fewer cylinders. In fact, none at all - such is the nature of electric cars.

The light behind Wertheim’s philanthropy

Wertheim himself is a compelling figure: a philanthropist in the traditional mould. Born in Philadelphia in 1939, he experienced a troubled childhood and clashes with his early teachers. Although dyslexic, he also showed a flair for invention, later becoming a leading figure in ophthalmology. He identified ultra-violet light as a cause of cataracts, then developed a UV-absorbing dye for plastic spectacle lenses.

His business, Brain Power Inc., grew into one of the world’s largest producers of optical tints and ophthalmic chemicals, while he personally holds 100 registered patents. He also made shrewd investments, buying into Apple and Microsoft at an early stage. With a net worth of $4.6bn, making a statement by purchasing a controversial new Ferrari is well within reach.

Luce, naturally, translates as light. Herbie Wertheim not only understands the science of light in remarkable depth; he has also made his fortune from it. And he is willing to donate substantial portions of that fortune in return for attention-commanding cars. Enlightenment, if you like.