Private buyers are increasingly outbidding museums for fossils. The auction house Sotheby’s opened live bidding on July 14, featuring a 67‑million‑year‑old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton dubbed Gus. Sotheby’s says the 183‑bone specimen is about 61 % complete, and it could fetch up to $30 million. The high‑profile lot shows the growing trend of private collectors buying fossils as luxury assets.

The trend began with Sue in 1997, which sold for roughly $8.4 million and set a precedent that landowners own the fossils on their property. Since then, the market has boomed, and in 2024 a Stegosaurus named Apex sold to hedge‑fund billionaire Ken Griffin for $44.6 million. Paleontologists worry that private ownership removes specimens from scientific study, especially when commercial excavators fail to document context or when artifacts are mounted for display.

Sotheby’s and other auction houses argue the sales rescue fossils from erosion and provide expert preparation. Critics such as Stuart Sumida and Kristi Curry Rogers point out that in private hands fossils become inaccessible, undermining reproducibility and future research. To counter this, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology is working to link collectors with museums so important specimens remain in the public trust.