NEW YORK, 19 November 2021 (AFP) — US millionaire Kenneth Griffin was the one who paid $43 million for one of the remaining 13 original copies of the US Constitution that were signed by the country’s founders, as of Friday. (19) has been reported in the report. Sotheby’s auction house.
According to Forbes magazine, Griffin, the founder and manager of the $39 billion Citadel hedge fund, is the 47th richest person in the United States with an estimated net worth of $21 billion.
This renowned art collector chose the free Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, to display a prized copy of the Magna Carta, one of two that are still in private hands.
“I want to make sure that this copy of our Constitution will be available to all Americans and visitors to see and enjoy at our museums and other public places,” he said in a statement sent by Sotheby’s.
“It is an honor” to have this copy displayed alongside an art collection that tells the country’s history, reacted Olivia Walton, chairman of the museum’s steering committee.
The $43.2 million paid by Griffin for this copy, which belonged to American collector Dorothy Tapper Goldman, represents a world record for a historical document at auction, according to Sotherby.
Although it was initially priced between $15 and $20 million, fierce competition from a group of cryptocurrency investors forced the multi-millionaire to loose his pocket, who raised $40 million in 72 hours to buy the document. Organizers promised to refund money to those who contributed to the dispute.
The text, celebrated with the famous preamble “We, the people of the United States, (…) declare and institute this Constitution for the United States of America”, was signed on September 17, 1787 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia by ? The parents of the country’s founders, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison.
Later, it was ratified by various Confederate states between December 1787 in the case of Delaware and May 1790 in Rhode Island.
Sotheby’s manuscript and ancient book specialist Selby Kiefer explained in September that it was part of a 500-copy edition printed the day before the copy subscription.
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