Auction of the Week: Ken Griffin Buys 150 Million-Year-Old Stegosaurus for $44.6 Million

Named “Apex,” the fossil sparked a bidding war between seven interested parties during Sotheby’s live auction in New York, eventually selling to Ken Griffin, the CEO and founder of the hedge fund, Citadel. While the buyer’s name was not disclosed by Sotheby’s,  the Wall Street Journal reported the buyer’s identity in an exclusive. Following the sale, Griffin, who intends to explore loaning the specimen to a U.S. institution, remarked: “Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America!”

Measuring 11 feet tall and 27 feet long from nose to tail, it was discovered by commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper at his property in 2022. Sotheby’s specialist Cassandra Hatton collaborated closely with Cooper to document the extensive process, from its excavation to restoration, marking the first time an auction house has been involved with a specimen of this kind throughout. The piece was sold with important contextual information, such as fossilized skin impressions, and three ossicles (throat armor).

“Apex” was the star lot of Sotheby’s Natural History Auction, and presented alongside a variety of fossils, meteorites, minerals, gogottes, and paleolithic tools. The sale achieved a total of $45.8 million against a pre-sale estimate of $4.9 – $7.4 million, revealing the sharp rise in interest in the subject matter. It marked the highest ever total for a Natural History auction.

The first dinosaur to be sold at auction was “Sue” the Tyrannosaurus rex in 1997, also at Sotheby’s, for $8.4 million. It is now on display at the Field Museum. “Stan”, another Tyrannosaurus rex, was sold for $31.8 million at Christie’s in 2020 for a new museum in Abu Dhabi. This was not Griffin’s first foray into dinosaurs either. According to the Financial Times, in 2018, he gave $16.5 million to the Field Museum in Chicago to fund the display of a cast of  an Argentine herbivore known as a titanosaur, which is said to be the biggest dinosaur ever discovered. He also paid $43.2 million for a copy of the US Constitution in 2021 and loaned it to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas.

Other highlights of the sale at Sotheby’s included a Lunar Meteorite for $40,800, over four times its high estimate and a Multi-Fish Triptych Mural that sold well above its high estimate for $38,400 (est. $12,000 – 18,000.