SHINY THING$ 0152 ✨

We’ll cut straight to the chase…

This winter on Rally, we’re IPO’ing the most valuable item we’ve ever brought to market.

In the context of human history, it’s also one of the most important.

It’s a dinosaur. It was very recently found (it’s still being excavated as you read this), and as of today only a small group of people even know it exists.

And that’s where the worlds of collecting, investing, private vs. public ownerships, and institutes of higher education are all colliding. 

Should these finite pieces of our past be owned by individuals? Should the scientific community be the only ones that have access to the best examples? Should everything be in a public museum? 

These are questions we wrestled with early in the creation of Rally before landing on our current mission, with the position that true democratization of ownership in museum-quality pieces like this would (and should) create polarization. But the conversation is one that dinosaurs and fossils in particular have become the centerpiece of. 

In this, the 152nd installment of Shiny Thing$, we took a look at both sides of the “should dinosaurs be owned by billionaires?” debate. With recent coverage from The NY Times, ABC, the Wall Street Journal, and basically every outlet from the niche financial press to mainstream media, its more relevant in 2024 than ever before… even with 65 million years of relevance. 

And it all started with a $44 million dollar Stegosaurus. 

By the time the Sotheby’s auction for "the finest for Stegosaurus to ever come to market" was over on a Wednesday night in mid-July, the price tag was a staggering $44.6 million. The dinosaur named “Apex” absolutely demolished the $4M-6M estimate, and smashed every fossil and dinosaur sales record.

Then, 24 hours later, news hit the wire that the buyer was hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin - a private citizen with enough cash and enough space in any of his 10+ homes to easily fit a 27 foot museum-mounted dinosaur. 

And with that, the “who should own the dinosaurs?” debate was reignited.

This issue has been contentious for years, with critics arguing that fossils are crucial pieces of natural history that should remain in public institutions, while others believe that private collectors have a role in preserving and displaying these relics.

The debate became prominent with the 1997 sale of the famous Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, “Sue.” Sue was discovered on private land in South Dakota by Susan Hendrickson, a volunteer with the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. However, her discovery led to a protracted legal battle over ownership, with multiple parties claiming rights to the skeleton, including the landowner and the U.S. government. Eventually, the courts ruled that Sue was the property of the landowner, who decided to auction the skeleton (you can read more about every side of the argument here… it’s pretty nuts).

Sue’s auction at Sotheby’s, where it sold for $8.4 million to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, marked a pivotal moment in the commercialization of fossils. The sale demonstrated the enormous financial value that dinosaur skeletons could command and forever changed the landscape of fossil collecting and trade. This sale triggered a shift in perception, where fossils were no longer viewed solely for their scientific value but also for their market potential. The genie was out of the bottle, and everyone was paying attention. 

A Market was created. 

In the years following Sue’s sale, other high-profile fossils also fetched significant sums. In 2020, another mostly complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, nicknamed “Stan,” was sold for a then-record $31.8 million. That was looked at as many in the auction and paleontology community as a but of an outlier that was facilitated by an unexpected bidding war. 

But then came Apex, smashing this “outlier” record, and steering the attention back to how fossil prices are continually driven higher by wealthy buyers, including private collectors and investors.

The belief in the paleontology community has been pretty unanimous in that the sale of Apex is expected to further increase the price of commercially available fossils, placing them even further out of reach for public institutions like museums and research centers. These institutions often lack the financial resources to compete in the commercial fossil market. Even the Field Museum (the buyer of Sue the t-rex) required substantial financial assistance from corporate sponsors and private donors, including McDonald’s and Disney, to afford Sue’s $8.4 million price tag in 1997. Without that help, the museum would have has no chance fighting in a bidding war to acquire the skeleton.

Most museums and research institutions operate on limited budgets, making it impossible to compete with private collectors (much less billionaires who don’t ask “how much does it cost?”) who can pay millions for a single fossil. Museums have traditionally relied on donations from the same wealthy collectors who they are now bidding against to acquire significant fossils.

Outside of the valid concerns that important pieces of natural history will remain in private hands, and possibly away from the scientific community and the public, there is also concern that the growing financial value of fossils could lead to a rise in illegal fossil trading. Fossils found on private land in the United States are legally treated as private property, which allows their owners to sell them to the highest bidder. This system stands in contrast to other fossil-rich countries like Canada and Mongolia, where fossils are considered government property and cannot be sold. Experts worry that the increasing commercialization of fossils will incentivize private fossil hunters to dig up more specimens for sale, potentially leading to a surge in illegal fossil sales both in the U.S. and internationally.

The other side of the argument - some collectors argue that private ownership of fossils can and will have educational benefits. Private fossil collectors often view their collections as valuable teaching tools, helping to raise awareness and educate the public about paleontology and natural history. At Rally, our dinosaurs have always been the star of the show anytime we’ve had them on display at any of our events or physical locations, and the conversations have always been a learning experience for visitors. Many collectors are sharing this information not just in person, but through social media, educating the public about specific specimens in private collections. 

Some scientists also see potential benefits in private fossil ownership, as long as the fossils are made accessible to researchers and the public. Proponents of private collecting and private purchase contend that this growing group of wealthy owners often have the means to preserve and display fossils in ways that can engage the public, potentially encouraging the next generation of scientists to pursue careers in paleontology.

Griffin, the buyer of Apex, has indicated that he plans to keep the skeleton in the United States and is open to loaning it to a public institution. This decision is likely to alleviate some concerns about fossils leaving the country, which has been a frequent worry among paleontologists.

The auction houses have found themselves in the middle of the debate, as they’ve become the easiest method of liquidating multi-million dollar specimens to the widest crowd of individual buyers. Christie’s and Sotheby’s have played a crucial role in the sale of fossils, facilitating high-profile sales like those of Sue, Stan, and Apex. However, auction houses have faced criticism for not doing enough to ensure the legality and ethical acquisition of fossils they sell. Some paleontologists have raised concerns about fossils being sold at auction that may have been illegally exported from countries with strict fossil protection laws.While a small sampling, some fossils offered for sale over the last half decade have been traced back to countries where fossil sales are illegal, leading to questions about their origins and legality.

While auction houses and brokers are businesses that operate to maximize profits, critics argue that they should take greater responsibility in verifying the provenance of fossils they sell. But the bigger conversation is certainly one that has occurred in nearly every “should it be a collectible?” argument with nearly every collectible category. We baseball cards ever meant to be encased in UV protected glass and sold for millions of dollars? Were cars ever meant to be suspended on podiums in climate controlled warehouses to never be driven again? What defines “museum quality” relative to the everyday examples of any collectible? 

All of it is part of a conversation that has no defined end, as we continue to draw inspiration and joy from these pieces of history the same way we do paintings on the wall of the Louvre. The sale of Apex and the conversations that continue to follow it underscore the growing commercialization of dinosaur fossils specifically and the complex debate over private ownership, but it won’t stop at dinosaurs. The role of private collectors, auction houses, and even platforms like Rally coupled with the technological advancements in preserving fossils will remain central to the future of paleontology, and the future of “ownership.”

Until Next Week…