Billionaire investor Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of hedge fund Citadel, broke auction records by paying $44.6 million for a dinosaur skeleton. According to New York PostMr Griffin bought a larger, intact skeleton of a stegosaurus at Sotheby’s on Wednesday, making it the most expensive fossil ever sold at auction.
This 150-million-year-old giant, dubbed “Apex,” was discovered outside present-day Dinosaur City, Colorado, in May 2022 by paleontologist Jason Cooper. According to Sotheby’s, Stegosaurus Apex is the largest ever discovered, measuring 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall and 27 feet (8.2 meters) long, with 254 of its 319 bones preserved, making it nearly complete.
Griffin won the skeleton after beating out six other bidders in a 15-minute auction. The skeleton was initially expected to sell for about $6 million, but sold for $44.6 million, 11 times its low estimate, setting a new record for a dinosaur fossil.
Watch the auction video here:
“Apex has lived up to its name today, inspiring bidders worldwide to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction,” Cassandra Hutton, Sotheby’s head of science and popular culture, said in a statement. “This sale has been a multi-year process, and we have worked closely with Jason Cooper every step of the way, from its discovery in Dinosaur, Colorado, to its sale in New York.”
According to Forbes, the hedge fund boss is a frequent Republican donor, with a net worth of $37.8 billion. He now plans to lend the skeleton to institutions across the United States rather than keep it for his own 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.
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