Ken Griffin pays $45M for Stegosaurus skeleton

Hedge-fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin bought a nearly complete Stegosaurus skeleton for a staggering $44.6 million—a record-breaking amount for a fossil at an auction—at Sotheby’s yesterday.

The last time a dinosaur skeleton was auctioned, it fetched $32 million at Christie. The Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, widely known as Stan, was purchased by Abu Dhabi in 2020.

Nicknamed Apex, the 150-million-year-old Stegosaurus sold yesterday was expected to be auctioned for up to $6 million.

The remarkable find from Colorado is around 80% intact, making it one of the best-preserved Stegosauruses ever discovered.

While private collectors vie for such treasures, academics are concerned about the impact on scientific research and museum accessibility. The rise of commercial paleontology has critics worrying that it will negatively impact science as museums are unable to match the prices private collectors are willing to offer.

But Sotheby’s claims that many fossils do make it to museums ultimately, saying that the T-rex Abu Dhabi bought, which will be placed in the country’s Natural History Museum next year. 

Even Griffin plans to lend the skeleton to a museum in the US. “Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America,” he said after the sale.

This is not Griffin’s first trophy piece

In 2021, the chief executive of Citadel bought the first-edition copy of the US Constitution for $43.2 million.