Canadian businessman collector Miles Nadal owned almost all of the rarest sneakers in the world. He was only missing one pair: the Nikes. Waffle Racing Flat Moon Shoe, from 1972. But this Tuesday, the businessman repaid his personal debt. Nadal paid $437,500 (around 392,000 euros) for the model hand-designed by the sports company's co-founder Bill Bowerman. Sotheby's auction house and Stadium Goods, a website dedicated to buying and selling sportswear, organized the auction, which was public…

Canadian businessman collector Miles Nadal owned almost all of the rarest sneakers in the world. He was only missing one pair: the Nikes. Waffle Racing Flat Moon Shoe, from 1972. But this Tuesday, the businessman repaid his personal debt. Nadal paid $437,500 (around 392,000 euros) for the model hand-designed by the sports company's co-founder Bill Bowerman. Auction house Sotheby's and Stadium Goods, a website dedicated to the sale and purchase of sportswear, organized the auction, which was public and online. With this historic object – only 12 pairs were made – the collector acquired the 100 most exclusive sports shoes on the planet. His plan now is to mount an exhibit of each at the Canadian Automobile Museum in Ontario.

It didn't take long for Nadal to build his collection. Last week, at another auction organized by Sotheby's and Stadium Goods, the Canadian purchased 99 of the most exclusive pairs designed so far for a value of $850,000 (762,000 euros). “I am delighted to acquire the iconic Moon shoe from Nike, one of the rarest pairs of sneakers ever produced and a true historical artifact in the history of sports and pop culture,” Nadal said after the purchase.

Estimates considered during the pre-sale of the 1972 model were around $160,000 and those in the know considered them generous. This Tuesday, the businessman paid almost three times this value. The world record Nadal broke was in 2017, when someone bid $190,373 at a sneaker auction for a pair of Converse sneakers worn and signed by basketball player Michael Jordan during the Olympic basketball final -ball from 1984.

“We are delighted that the iconic Moon shoe “have achieved more than double the world record obtained at a sneaker auction,” celebrated Noah Wunsch, director of e-commerce at Sotheby’s. The auction house has made a successful foray into its first sneaker auction, dubbed “The Ultimate Sneaker Collection.” The other models in the collection are the sneakers worn by the character Marty McFly in the film Back to the Future II or the only model from the exclusive collection that rapper Pharrell William designed with Chanel for Adidas, a gift for fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. Also other models designed by singers Yeezy Boost 350 designed by Kanye West or the Air Jordan 4designed by rapper Travis Scott for his friends and family.

“Sneakers are a thing of the past and there are stories in these sneakers. “Sneaker culture has exploded into a global phenomenon, a new language for what is worn,” the auction house explained when promoting the offering. Nadal wanted to buy them all, all 100. But the auction house decided that the Moon Shoe would be offered to the public this Tuesday. The decision only delayed the Canadian's ambitions.

Nadal doesn't just collect sneakers. The millionaire owns 142 cars and 40 motorcycles which are part of the collection Dare dream at the Canadian Automobile Museum. In 2015, the businessman made news when he left his post as executive director of his marketing and advertising company MDC, amid an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). United on its finances. The SEC forced him, among other things, to pay 5.5 million in civil fines and banned him for five years from serving as a boss in a public company for not having declared the remuneration and benefits received between 2009 and 2014. Nadal did it again, this time founding his own investment company Peerage Capital, of which he is currently CEO.