Billionaire investor Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of hedge fund Citadel, has broken auction records by spending $44.6 million on a dinosaur skeleton. The New York PostMr. Griffin purchased the largest and most intact stegosaurus skeleton at Sotheby’s on Wednesday, making it the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction.
The stegosaurus nicknamed “Apex,” estimated to be 150 million years old, was excavated in May 2022 by paleontologist Jason Cooper, just outside the present-day town of Dinosaur, Colorado. According to Sotheby’s, the Apex is the largest stegosaurus ever discovered, measuring 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall and 27 feet (8.2 meters) long, with a remarkable 254 bones preserved out of an estimated 319, making it nearly complete.
Mr Griffin got his hands on the skeleton by outbidding six other bidders in a 15-minute auction. The skeleton, originally expected to fetch about $6 million, sold for $44.6 million, 11 times its low estimate, setting a new record for dinosaur fossils.
Watch the auction video here:
“‘Apex’ lived up to its name today, inspiring bidders around the world to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction. This sale has been years in the making, and we have worked closely with Jason Cooper every step of the way, from the moment of its discovery in Dinosaur, Colorado, to its sale in New York,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s Global Head of Science and Popular Culture, said in a statement.
According to Forbes, the hedge fund boss is a regular donor to the Republican Party and has a net worth of around $37.8 billion. He is now considering loaning the skeleton to institutions across the United States instead of keeping it for his private collection.
“Apex was born in America and will stay in America!” he said after the sale, according to CBS News.
In 2017, he donated $16.5 million to the Field Museum in Chicago to fund an exhibit featuring the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered.
Featured video of the day
Karnataka plans 2% tax on movie tickets, OTT subscriptions