Billionaire art collector Kenneth Griffin is revealed as the buyer of the handwritten copy of the 13th Amendment by Abraham Lincoln.
The document, one of the only four handwritten copies made by US President Abraham Lincoln, went on the auction block on Thursday as part of the “Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana” sale at Sotheby’s. With a presale estimate of $8 million – $12 million, it was bought by an anonymous bidder for $13.7 million. However, on Monday, Sotheby’s revealed that the buyer was Ken Griffin.
Ken Griffin is the billionaire founder of the hedge fund Citadel. He is also a prolific philanthropist and art collector. Apart from the 13th Amendment copy, Griffin also bought Lincoln’s 1864 copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was sold for $4.4 million against a $3 million – $5 million estimate. The Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment were two of the most important documents regarding the end of slavery in America. Griffin shared the sentiment, citing the reason to buy them was because they “marked a profound step forward, abolishing the scourge of slavery and advancing the ideal that all people are created equal.”
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This is not the first time Ken Griffin has expressed his fondness for historical American documents. In 2021, he bought a rare copy of the US Constitution for $43.2 million. It was one of the only 14 copies ever printed before the Constitutional Convention. In May, Griffin announced that he would be lending that copy to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia until the end of 2026.
