A T. rex skeleton sold for $50 million at auction. Topped the previous record of $44.6 million. That one was a stegosaurus. Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin bought it in 2024.
Two things matter here. First, the ultra-wealthy have run out of normal assets to buy. Stocks, bonds, real estate, art, classic cars, rare wine, private islands. All tapped out. Now they're bidding against each other for the calcified remains of animals that died 66 million years ago. Second, this means absolutely nothing for your portfolio.
Some retail trader in Ohio is reading this headline right now and thinking it's a signal. Googling "dinosaur fossil ETF" at 2 a.m. Checking if there's a paleontology sector rotation play. Wondering if he should go long on museum stocks. There are no museum stocks, Derek. Museums are non-profits. You're thinking of gift shops.
Griffin spent $44.6 million on a stegosaurus last year. That's not even the record anymore. Held it for less than two years and got beaten by a T. rex. Can't even win at buying dead dinosaurs. Meanwhile you're holding a leveraged semiconductor ETF that's down 30% because you read a Reddit post about AI chips and thought you understood supply chains.
The person who bought the T. rex is unnamed. Probably hiding from the IRS. Or from other billionaires who want to one-up them with a triceratops. This is what happens when you have so much money that financial advisors stop returning your calls. You start collecting fossils like they're Pokémon cards.
Next year someone will pay $60 million for a velociraptor and we'll write the same article. You'll still be broke. The dinosaurs will still be dead. And Ken Griffin will still have better returns than you.
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