https://www.newsmax.com/thewire/ken-griffin-stegosaurus-auction/2024/07/18/id/1173070/By Zoe Papadakis | Thursday, 18 July 2024 10:53 AM EDT
Hedge-fund magnate Kenneth Griffin made headlines Wednesday when he bought a nearly complete stegosaurus skeleton for $44.6 million at a Sotheby's auction, setting a record for the highest amount ever spent on a fossil at auction.
The 150 million-year-old dinosaur, dubbed "Apex," was initially expected to sell for up to $6 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. Instead, it easily topped the $32 million paid for the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton "Stan" in Abu Dhabi four years ago. "Apex" also surpassed the $8.4 million spent in 1997 for the T. rex "Sue," now on display at Chicago's Field Museum.
It's unclear if Apex was male or female, but Sotheby's confirmed it was an adult. The skeleton shows no signs of previous injuries, and it includes delicate skin impressions and fragile bones, such as throat armor.
The dinosaur was discovered in the Morrison Formation in northwestern Colorado, a region famous for its Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock, which often contains dinosaur fossils.
Collectors usually pay top dollar for famous predators like the T. rex and velociraptor, which famously featured in films like "Jurassic Park." However, this 27-foot-long herbivore stood out when paleontologist Jason Cooper found it on his Dinosaur, Colorado, property two years ago.
It was almost completely intact, with 254 of its 319 bones discovered on site. The missing bones were recreated so Sotheby's could display the 11-foot-tall skeleton in a dramatic fighting pose.
Griffin, who serves as founder and chief executive of Citadel, said he intends to lend Apex to a museum in the U.S.
"Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America," he said.
Griffin is known for lavish purchases. In 2021, he outbid a group of cryptocurrency investors to acquire a $43.2 million first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution, aiming to keep it in the country. Later, he loaned it to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
