American billionaire Ken Griffin has bought the world's most expensive dinosaur skeleton.

A Stegosaurus skeleton sold for a record $44.6 million on Wednesday, bought by influential American billionaire Ken Griffin, who plans to loan it to an American institution for display.

The information revealed that Wall Street Journal A source close to the deal confirmed this to AFP. Ken Griffin, chairman of the Citadel pension fund and a major donor to the Republican Party, had already distinguished himself in November 2021 by paying $43 million for an original copy of the US Constitution, which he loaned to a state museum in Arkansas.

Sotheby's, which held the auction in New York on Wednesday, said the buyer “Intends to explore loaning the (dinosaur) specimen to an American institution.”. “Apex (the dinosaur's name, editor's note), was born in America and will stay in America.”Ken Griffin said, according to Wall Street Journal.

According to the magazine ForbesKen Griffin is worth an estimated $37.8 billion. He is a graduate of the prestigious private Harvard University, near Boston, and is also one of its largest donors ($350 million in 2023). The billionaire donated $16.5 million in 2017 to the Field Museum in Chicago to allow it to display another dinosaur specimen, the T. rex “Sue.”

It is about 150 million years old, and can be identified by its pointed plates along its back, which are in a state of preservation. “exceptional” According to Sotheby's, Apex broke the auction value record previously held by a T-Rex ($31.8 million in 2020).

It was discovered in May 2022 on the private property of renowned paleontologist Jason Cooper in Colorado, and Sotheby's says it has worked with the seller from the beginning to ensure “Transparency” According to the company.

Sales of dinosaur skeletons at auction have increased in recent years, sparking controversy and frustration among paleontologists who fear seeing unusual fossils slip into the hands of private collectors and escape museums and scientific research.