NYC fruit seller cries after hearing banana he sold for 25 cents was auctioned off for $6.2 million: ‘I am a poor man’

Shah Alam, the 74-year-old man who was working at the fruit stand that day, told the New York Times that when he found out how much the piece had sold for, he began to cry. "I am a poor man. I have never had this kind of money; I have never seen this kind of money."

Karina Sokolovsky, a spokeswoman for Sotheby’s, confirmed that the banana that hung on the wall at the auction was in fact purchased from the stand Alam works at on the day of the sale. The display was purchased by Justin Sun, a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur.

Alam, a widower from Bangladesh, was a civil servant before moving to the US in 2007 to be closer to one of his children on Long Island. He told the outlet that he lives in a Bronx basement apartment with five other men and pays just $500 per month, and works at the fruit stand four days per week for 12 hours a day, and is paid just $12 per hour.

Following the report, Sun wrote, "To thank Mr. Shah Alam, I’ve decided to buy 100,000 bananas from his stand in New York's Upper East Side. These bananas will be distributed free worldwide through his stand. Show a valid ID to claim one banana, while supplies last."

However, Alam noted the logistical difficulties in procuring such a large sum of bananas in a follow-up report from the Times. He said that getting that many bananas from a Bronx wholesale market would cost thousands of dollars, and that the profit would be around $6,000.

“There’s not any profit in selling bananas,” Alam said, who also noted that any money would go towards the fruit stand’s owner, not him.

The stand’s owner, Mohammad R. Islam, told the Times that any profit from the proposed sale would be split between himself, Alam, and the six other people he employs.

The display was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, and is the third edition of the conceptual piece titled "Comedian." The first two editions sold in Miami for between $120,000 and $150,000. The piece comes with an owner's manual detailing how to tape up the banana, and permission to refresh the banana when it goes bad.

Sun wrote when he first purchased the work, "I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve bought the banana !!! ... This is not just an artwork; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history. I am honored to be the proud owner of the banana and look forward to it sparking further inspiration and impact for art enthusiasts around the world."

Sun has since eaten the banana, saying that " the taste is naturally different from an ordinary one."