Tech wealth fuels record prices for dinosaur bones, art and watches: Experts
The head of “Gus,” one of the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever found, was photographed during a press preview at Sotheby’s Breuer building in New York on July 1, 2026.
Timothy A. Clary | Afp | Getty Images
A version of this article originally appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to high-net-worth investors and consumers. become a member to receive future editions straight to your inbox.
Major auction houses generated sales of nearly $10 billion in the first half, one of the strongest starts of the year so far, as the wealthy gained confidence from rising financial markets.
Sotheby’s reported its best first half ever with sales of $4.4 billion, up 58% from last year and setting a record for the 282-year-old auction house. Christie’s had its best first half since 2021, reporting sales of $4.5 billion, up 71%. Phillips, Heritage and other auctioneers also had a big start to the year.
According to Artnet, eight lots sold for more than $50 million in the first half, while there were no sales in 2024 and 2025. Auction managers and sellers say the art market’s explosive recovery after nearly three years of declines is driven largely by massive wealth creation from the artificial intelligence boom, IPOs and rising stocks.
“The numbers mean there is confidence in the market,” Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan said at the Christie’s Art + Technology Summit last week. “There are people willing to sell wonderful objects, and there are people who will spend large amounts of money to obtain these special one-of-a-kind artifacts.”
Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart added: “The wealth being created right now is the number one driver in our business right now. You can see that very clearly when you sit here in New York and talk about it.” SpaceX “IPO and these different tech IPOs and AI fever is coming.”
While the dollar totals are largely driven by a select group of overpriced businesses at the top end of the market, the strength is across the board at nearly all price points and in nearly every category. Fine art, classic cars, watches, handbags, diamonds, whiskey and even dinosaur bones are setting new records.
At the start of the first half, Jackson Pollock’s drip painting titled “Number 7A, 1948” sold for $181 million at Christie’s. Considered one of Pollock’s most epic and defining works, the work was previously owned by media mogul and collector SI Newhouse, adding to its appeal. The Brancusi statue, which previously belonged to Newhouse, was sold for 107.6 million dollars.
A new wave of young collectors, many from the tech world, are also redefining collectibles.
In classic cars, sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s dominated the price charts. Now supercars from the 1990s and 2000s are among the best sellers.
Watches are gaining popularity among tech brethren. Phillips, along with Bacs & Russo, reported watch auctions of $235 million in the first half, its largest ever. Strong bids spread across auctions in New York, Geneva and Hong Kong. While Patek Philippe remains strong, young collectors are fighting for pieces from rarer and independent brands.
The most expensive watch sold in the first half was the FP Journe Souscription Résonance, which sold for $13.9 million. Mark Zuckerberg has become one of the most high-profile devotees of FP Journe in recent years, flaunting seven-figure FP Journe in public.
In the first half, 30% of buyers were new to Christie’s, 47% of them were millennials or younger, and 85% of bids were placed online, Brennan said.
“The things we show people and their interaction with Christie’s is evolving,” he said.
One of the newest categories is dinosaur bones, which are also the oldest. Sotheby’s sells fossil specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex It sold for $50.1 million this month, making it the most expensive fossil ever sold at auction. The T. rex, named “Gus,” was recovered from the badlands of South Dakota and is estimated to be 67 million years old.
Gus’s new owner has not been identified. But the sale follows a stegosaurus sold by Sotheby’s in 2024 to hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin for $44.6 million. The stegosaurus named “Apex” was loaned to the Natural History Museum.
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang speaks at the COMPUTEX forum in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 29, 2023.
Anne Wang | Reuters
Stewart said institutions as well as individuals are bidding on dinosaur fossils. Seven bidders battled for Gus for 10 minutes as the nouveau riche competed for a piece of prehistoric history. At 38 meters tall, Gus will need either a museum or a very large living room for his new home.
“I say it’s ‘SpaceX to T. rex,'” Stewart said. “These people haven’t just made money. They’re looking at market valuations and making a decision about the store of value.”
Young tech money is also driving up the values of sports memorabilia and pop culture. Just a few weeks after the New York Knicks won the NBA championship, the jersey Jalen Brunson wore in Game 1 against the Spurs sold for $1.024 million at Sotheby’s.
Even Jensen Huang’s leather jackets have become collector’s items. The black leather Tom Ford jacket the Nvidia CEO wore to the Foxconn event in Taiwan in 2023 sold for $960,000, exceeding the pre-sale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. Proceeds went to charities.
“People are spending money on fun, collectible items they want to own,” said Jeffrey Yin, CEO of Artsy and Artnet.
