Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin added two of the most iconic artifacts in American history to his growing collection of rare documents — spending a combined $18.1 million for items signed by President Abraham Lincoln.
The founder and chief executive of Citadel — whose net worth is estimated at $46 billion, according to Forbes — scooped up a rare, handwritten copy of the 13th Amendment for $13.7 million to break Sotheby’s auction record for a Lincoln-signed document, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Signed by Lincoln in 1865, the single sheet of vellum marked the formal abolition of slavery in the United States and is one of only four copies known to remain in private hands.
The auction house had estimated the document would sell for up to $12 million. Griffin’s winning bid not only shattered expectations but also eclipsed the previous $2.4 million record set by another copy of the 13th Amendment in 2016.
Griffin also purchased a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation for $4.4 million at the same Sotheby’s auction on Thursday.
“Since our founding, America has been on a journey to form a more perfect union. The Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment marked a profound step forward, abolishing the scourge of slavery and advancing the ideal that all people are created equal,” Griffin said in a statement to The Post.
“As America approaches its 250th anniversary, we all have a part to play to strengthen and renew the promise of our nation. Each generation must experience the sacred documents of our democracy — to learn from them and be inspired to carry our country forward.”
Originally issued by Lincoln during the Civil War in 1863, the proclamation declared enslaved people in the Confederate states to be free. This version, signed in 1864, had been expected to sell for between $3 million and $5 million. The previous high for a signed copy was $3.8 million, set in 2010.
The documents “marked a profound step forward, abolishing the scourge of slavery and advancing the ideal that all people are created equal,” Griffin said in a statement to the Journal following the sale.
Griffin — who last year purchased the largest ever dinosaur skeleton for a record 44.6 million — has become one of the most prominent and aggressive collectors of pivotal pieces of American political history in recent years.
In 2021, he outbid a decentralized group of cryptocurrency investors — known as ConstitutionDAO — to win a first-edition copy of the US Constitution for $43.2 million, the highest price ever paid at auction for a historical document.
Last month, Griffin announced he would lend that copy, along with a rare 1789 printing of the Bill of Rights, to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for a special exhibition timed to the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026.
The loans will coincide with a new gallery celebrating America’s founding documents and ideals.
Griffin, based in Florida, said he intends to make the newly acquired Lincoln documents available for public exhibition as well.
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