Ken Griffin just snapped up two more impressive pieces of U.S. history.
The hedge fund billionaire just bought an Abraham Lincoln–signed copy of the Thirteenth Amendment via Sotheby’s for $13.7 million—a figure that smashed the previous auction record more than five times over. And he didn’t stop there: Griffin also grabbed a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, also signed by the sixteenth president, for a record $4.4 million. The sale of both rare documents hit a new benchmark, making it the highest-ever total for a various-owners book auction at Sotheby’s.
Sold at the Fine Books and Manuscripts event in New York, each copy plays a crucial role in American’s history. The Thirteenth Amendment enshrined the abolition of slavery into law; the copy up for grabs is just one of just 15 recorded copies signed by Lincoln, and one of only nine signed by the 16th president and other senators and congressmen at the time. The copy sold for over its top estimate of $12 million.
The signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation (left) and the Thirteenth Amendment.
Courtesy Sotheby’s
The Emancipation Proclamation, meanwhile, sold right with its estimated range of $3 million and $5 million. The document marks Lincoln’s executive order during the Civil War decreeing that all enslaved people in the Confederate state were to be freed. The copy on offer at Sotheby’s is one of just 27 known to exist.
“As America approaches its 250th anniversary, we all have a part to play to strengthen and renew the promise of our nation,” the Citadel CEO said in a statement. “Each generation must experience the sacred documents of our democracy—to learn from them and be inspired to carry our country forward. I care deeply about the future of our nation and hope to inspire all Americans to uphold the vision set forth in our Constitution and the 13th Amendment.”
As you might have guessed, Griffin is something of a history buff. The billionaire (who currently sits at No. 32 on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, with a $48.3 billion net worth) previously splashed down $43.2 million on a rare first printing of the Constitution in 2021; he is loaning the collectors’ item to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, AP reported. Griffin is also loaning the institution his copy of the Bill of Rights, another rare first printing. And since the hedge funder is planning on loaning his copies of the Thirteen Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation to a U.S. institution, the public will be able to see the rare pieces for themselves soon enough.
