Ahmad 
American billionaire Ken Griffin bought a stegosaurus dinosaur skeleton for $44.6 million at an auction organized by “Sotheby’s” in New York.
Griffin is the head of the Citadel hedge fund and a prominent donor to the Republican Party, and he intends to loan it to an American institution to display it to the public, according to Sotheby’s.
Griffin, whose fortune is estimated at $37.8 billion according to Forbes magazine, had previously purchased a rare copy of the US Constitution in November 2021 for $43 million and loaned it for free to a government museum in Arkansas. He also donated $16.5 million to the Field Museum. In Chicago to display a specimen of a Tyrannosaurus rex “Sue.”
The Wall Street Journal quoted Griffin as saying that “Apex,” which is the name given to the dinosaur, “was born in America and will remain in America.”
The history of “Apex” dates back to 150 million years, and it is considered one of the most complete skeletons discovered to date. It includes 254 fossilized bones out of a total of 319, and its height is 3.3 meters.
“Apex” was discovered in May 2022 on land owned by paleontologist Jason Cooper, who cooperated with Sotheby’s to ensure transparency in organizing the auction.
It is noteworthy that the previous record for the most expensive dinosaur skeleton was $31.8 million and was achieved by a Tyrannosaurus rex named “Stan” in New York in 2020.
These auctions have sparked controversy among paleontologists who believe that selling fossils reduces the chances of them being displayed in museums and used in scientific research.
“Apex” is 30% larger than the most complete skeleton on display at the Natural History Museum in London.
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