SortStack #2061 — 2032-01-30

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. An Oscar statuette, if a winner ever sells it back to the Academy $1.00

   Since 1951, winners must offer their Oscar back to the Academy for exactly one dollar before selling it elsewhere — a rule that keeps statuettes off the open market.

2. Costco's famous hot dog and soda combo $1.50

   The price has been frozen since 1985. Co-founder Jim Sinegal reportedly told his CEO: 'If you raise the price of the hot dog, I will kill you.'

3. One year at Harvard, including tuition, room, and board $82K

   Harvard's endowment is so large that the university could theoretically let every undergraduate attend free and barely notice — financial aid means many already pay little.

4. A new Ferrari 296 GTB $340K

   Ferrari deliberately limits production below demand — the company makes more profit per car than almost any automaker, and the waitlist is part of the product.

5. A McLaren F1 supercar at its original Nineties sticker price $815K

   The engine bay was lined with real gold foil for heat reflection. The same cars now trade for over $20 million — among history's best car investments.

6. WhatsApp, when Facebook bought it $19B

   At the 2014 acquisition, WhatsApp had about 55 employees serving 450 million users — a price of roughly $350 million per employee.

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