Citadel CEO Ken Griffin Outbid a Group of Crypto Investors for Copy of US Constitution

Chicago hedge-fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin said he won a $43.2 million first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution at a Sotheby' s auction on Thursday -- and now he intends to lend it to a free Arkansas art museum. From a report: The 53-year old founder and chief executive of Citadel caused a stir Thursday when he outbid a large group of cryptocurrency investors who had crowdfunded more than $40 million earlier in the week in a frenzied attempt to win the document, the last surviving first edition in private hands. The group, organized as ConstitutionDAO, pooled funds from more than 17,000 people over a 72-hour period, with the median donation hovering around $206. ConstitutionDAO said it sought to take the Constitution copy and make it accessible to the public. "The U.S. Constitution is a sacred document that enshrines the rights of every American and all those who aspire to be," Mr. Griffin said in a statement issued by Sotheby's. "That is why I intend to ensure that this copy of our Constitution will be available for all Americans and visitors to view and appreciate." Mr. Griffin said he intends to lend the 1787 folio to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., a museum with free admission founded a decade ago by Walmart heiress Alice Walton. The museum is known for owning Charles Willson Peale's portrait of George Washington and other examples by Thomas Eakins and Marsden Hartley. [...] The hedge-fund manager is known for looking askance at cryptocurrency. Last month in a recorded talk at the Economic Club of Chicago, he told the audience that he doesn't trade in cryptocurrency because of its "regulatory uncertainty," adding that he "wished all this passion and energy that went into crypto was directed toward making the United States stronger."

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