Largest ever stegosaurus skeleton sold to billionaire for $44.6M

That’s one dino-mite deal.

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin purchased a late-Jurassic stegosaurus skeleton for $44.6 million at Sotheby’s Wednesday, marking the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction.

The towering, 11-foot-high behemoth, dubbed “Apex,” was excavated just outside of present-day Dinosaur, Colorado in May 2022.

It stretches a staggering 27 feet from top to tail and is the largest recovered of its kind.

It is also one of the most complete with nearly 80% of its bones recovered.

Griffin, who founded the Citadel hedge fund and has a net worth of $38.3 billion, beat out six other bidders and plans on loaning the skeleton to other institutions for display, but will prioritize keeping it in the United States. 

“Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America,” Griffin said in a press release after his win. 

Griffin is no stranger to funding fossils.

In 2018, he bestowed $16.5 million to Chicago’s Field Museum to fund a touchable display of the biggest dinosaur ever discovered.

He was also named one of the top 200 art collectors in the world with a collection valued at $1 billion. 

A near-complete tyrannosaurus named “Rex” was previously regarded as one of the most expensive skeletons after selling for $31.8 million at Christie’s Auction in 2020.

Griffin is no stranger to funding fossils. In 2018, he bestowed $16.5 million to Chicago’s Field Museum to fund a touchable display of the biggest dinosaur ever discovered. He was also named one of the top 200 art collectors in the world with a collection valued at $1 billion. 

His collection is only going to continue to grow as he aims to preserve increasingly eclectic artifacts in the United States. In November 2021, he spent $43.2 million on one of 13 known first-edition copies of the U.S. Constitution because his son asked him to. 

He also said it was to preserve it for public viewing in America, just like his reasoning for purchasing the stegosaurus. 

In May 2022, Griffin also won two seats on the Blue Origins spaceflight, which he donated to two New York City public school teachers.