Citadel CEO Ken Griffin's $44.6 million dinosaur skeleton to go on display

New York City The American Museum of Natural History on Sunday will begin displaying the nearly $45 million “Apex” dinosaur skeleton that Citadel CEO Ken Griffin purchased at auction earlier this year.

The museum announced Thursday that the 27-foot-long Stegosaurus skeleton will initially be located in the Kenneth C. Griffin Exploration Atrium within its Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation.

“Apex” is “considered the largest and one of the most complete stegosaurus specimens never found”, according to the AMNH. The fossil dates back 150 million years.

The Stegosaurus fossil nicknamed Apex is unveiled to the media at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, December 5, 2024. Billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin, who purchased the Stegosaurus fossil for $44.6 million, is lending it to the museum f (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Griffin loaned the dinosaur skeleton to the AMNH, allowing the museum to display it for four years, the AMNH said.

CITADEL CEO KEN GRIFFIN PAID NEARLY $45M FOR A DINOSAUR SKELETON AT AUCTION

“Apex provides a unique window into our planet’s distant past, and I am very pleased to partner with the American Museum of Natural History to present it to one of our nation’s most important scientific institutions,” said Griffin. “I am grateful that millions of visitors and researchers will now be able to see and learn from this magnificent specimen from the Late Jurassic period.”

Ken Griffin, managing director and founder of Citadel Advisors LLC, speaks at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Griffin said the pattern of a U.S. recession is unfolds, with the Federal Reserve f (Photographer: Saul Martinez/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Scientists in the museum's paleontology division plan to conduct research on “Apex” as part of a “new research initiative” focused on the biology of the species “including the growth and life history of this unique ornithischian dinosaur,” the AMNH said.

The massive Stegosaurus skeleton has been owned by Griffin since July, when it went under the hammer at Sotheby's. THE Hedge fund CEO He paid $44.6 million, a figure that the auction house said makes it the “most valuable fossil ever sold at auction.”

Its exhibition at the AMNH comes after Griffin previously indicated that he was interested in lending it for public viewing at an American institution.

After its stay in the Kenneth C. Griffin Atrium, “Apex” will be placed on the fourth floor to “anchor a spectacular new entrance to the museum's famous fossil halls from the Gilder Center,” AMNH said. This move will take place in the fall.

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The museum will replace “Apex” with a cast of the skeleton at the end of its four-year display.

At the AMNH, “Apex” will be at the center of a series of “educational resources” that the museum will develop, according to a press release.

The Stegosaurus fossil nicknamed Apex is unveiled to the media at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, December 5, 2024. Billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin, who bought the Stegosaurus fossil for $44.6 million, is lending it to the museum f (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

AMNH noted that Griffin has already provided “significant support to the museum through the new Kenneth C. Griffin Exploration Atrium at the Gilder Center.”

The Gilder Center began welcoming visitors in May 2023. It has an insectarium, a butterfly vivarium and numerous other exhibitionsaccording to the museum's website.

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Griffin has also made dinosaur-related donations in the past. Seven years ago, he provided $16.5 million to Chicago's Field Museum for a gallery displaying a famous T. rex skeleton and for a huge titanosaur cast that guests can touch.

The hedge fund CEO has a net worth of $47.1 billion, according to Forbes.