Billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin just paid a record-breaking $44.6 million for a 150 million-year-old Stegosaurus skeleton, nicknamed "Apex."
Matthew Sherman/Courtesy of Sotheby's
Billionaire Ken Griffin has a new record-breaking item for his record-breaking home.
The hedge fund manager paid $44.6 million for a roughly 150 million-year-old mounted Stegosaurus skeleton, nicknamed "Apex."
The fossil, which is nearly 27 feet long and 11 feet high, is one of the most complete Stegosaurus skeletons ever recorded, according to auction house Sotheby's.
The purchase blew past Sotheby's estimated maximum of $6 million and shattered the previous record sale of $32 million for a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in 2020.
The Citadel CEO, who, according to Forbes, is worth about $38 billion, isn't a stranger to record-breaking sales.
In 2019, Griffin paid $238 million for a New York City penthouse, which broke the record for the most expensive home ever sold in the US. More recently, Griffin overtook himself for the most expensive home purchase in Miami-Dade County, dropping $107 million for a luxury waterfront compound.
Griffin intends to lend Apex to a US institution, according to a press release. "Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America," he said after the sale.
It wouldn't be the first time Griffin dabbled in historical artifacts. In 2018, the Field Museum acquired the biggest dinosaur ever discovered thanks to a $16.5 million donation from his Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund.
And in 2021, Griffin won a bid against a group of cryptocurrency fans for a first-edition copy of the US Constitution, with a final sale value of $43.2 million. He partnered with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to make the document publicly available.
