Tyrannosaurus rex 'Gus' sells for $50.1 million at Sotheby's, becoming the most expensive fossil ever auctioned

A nearly complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed Gus sold for $50.1 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York on Tuesday, setting a new record for the most expensive fossil ever sold. The sale, which lasted about ten minutes and involved seven bidders, far exceeded the pre-auction estimate of $20 to $30 million. The anonymous buyer bid by phone through Cassandra Hatton, head of Sotheby's science and natural history department.

Discovery and excavation

Gus was unearthed in 2021 on a private ranch in Harding County, South Dakota, within the fossil-rich Hell Creek Formation. The excavation was carried out over three field seasons, from 2021 to 2023, by the Texas-based company Theropoda Expeditions. Another two years were needed to clean, study, and assemble the remains. The skeleton is named after Gary 'Gus' Licking, the ranch owner who died in February 2022 while excavation was still in its early stages.

The specimen measures 11.5 to 12 meters in length and stands approximately 3.8 meters tall, making it one of the largest T-Rex skeletons ever discovered. The fossil includes 183 bones, with 30 of the 32 gastralia (abdominal ribs) preserved. The skeleton is approximately 61 to 63 percent complete, ranking it the third most complete T-Rex after Sue (90 percent, discovered in 1990) and Stan (70 percent, discovered in 1987), both also found in South Dakota. Its bone mass represents 75 to 80 percent of the total, as the largest and most significant parts of the animal are preserved. The skull, about 1.4 meters long, is 82 percent complete and shows a bite mark and other injuries consistent with combat.

Record-breaking sale

The auction was part of Sotheby's 'Geek Week,' which also included trilobites from Morocco, marine reptile remains discovered in Germany, and a dinosaur nest from Montana. Bidding opened at $19 million and climbed rapidly over ten minutes. When the auctioneer's hammer fell, applause broke out in the room.

The United States is the only country in the world where fossils of this kind are considered private property. If you are the landowner, you are the owner of the fossil and you have the right to sell it. So, if you want a dinosaur, this is the only place you can buy one.

Gus surpasses the previous record held by Apex, a stegosaurus bought for $44.6 million in 2024 by hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin, also through Sotheby's. That specimen is currently on loan to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Before Apex, the record belonged to Stan, a T-Rex sold by Christie's in 2020 for $31.8 million. Stan resurfaced last year in the United Arab Emirates as the centerpiece of the newly established Abu Dhabi Natural History Museum.

Scientific concerns

Paleontologists have voiced alarm over the sale, fearing that Gus may become inaccessible to researchers if it enters a private collection. Major scientific journals do not publish studies based on specimens not held in publicly accessible collections. Sotheby's declined to disclose the buyer's identity or the skeleton's destination.

The auction could lead to a major scientific loss. We hope the buyer donates the fossil to a public institution. Specimens like Gus can reveal an enormous amount of scientific data, but if they are kept within the walls of a wealthy private buyer's home, they lose their value, since peer-reviewed scientific journals do not publish research based on specimens that are not permanently accessible to scholars.

Gus lived during the Maastrichtian age, between 72 and 66 million years ago, a period characterized by warm climate, high sea levels, and vast coastal plains. The skeleton was excavated by commercial paleontologist Thomas Heitkamp, who worked the site between 2021 and 2023.