Canadian entrepreneur and financier Miles Nadal has over the years amassed a multi-million dollar collection of rare shoes and cars, a portion of which he says will soon be auctioned off in Toronto.
Nadal, the founder and executive chairman of Peerage Capital Group, told BNN Bloomberg that he started collecting rare cars more than 25 years ago, but his impressive sneaker collection came together more recently.
“I was bored one day (in 2019), sitting at my cottage in Muskoka, and I bought something called the ultimate sneaker collection from Sotheby's; it was 100 of the most iconic sneakers,” he said in a Friday interview.
His collection grew from there, and it’s now estimated to be worth more than $2 million.
It includes original Air Jordan sneakers autographed by the iconic Nike shoe’s namesake and basketball legend Michael Jordan, as well as a pair of self-lacing Air Mags designed to look like the sneakers worn by Marty McFly in the film Back to the Future Part II.
Nadal’s car collection includes dozens of rare vehicles including one of each of the “Big 5" Ferraris — the 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and LaFerrari, which by themselves could fetch north of $20 million.
Nadal said he started collecting because he was genuinely interested in the rare items, and the fact that his collection has appreciated so substantially over the years is an “unintended consequence.”
“Luxury items are an investment you make with your heart, whether it's art or sneakers or collectables or watches or cars or even luxury real estate,” he said, “these are emotional investments.”
Nadal said that his vast collection has now become laborious to maintain, which is why he’s decided to downsize via auction, with the proceeds going to charity.
“We have about 175 cars and other vehicles. I'm keeping 25 of those and I’m keeping about 100 pairs of sneakers, but it's time to simplify because the labour of love has become a lot of labour,” he said.
“I'm 66 years of age, I kind of want to enjoy the fruits of my labour and try and make the world a better place.”
Nadal’s “Dare to Dream Collection” of cars and shoes will be put up for auction by RM Sotheby’s between May 31 and June 1 in Toronto.