Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel, purchased two historic US documents at a Sotheby's auction for $18.1 million. He acquired a signed copy of the Thirteenth Amendment for $13.7 million and the Emancipation Proclamation for $4.4 million. The Thirteenth Amendment, significant for abolishing slavery in 1865, is one of only 15 known signed versions. The Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in Confederate territory free during the Civil War. The previous auction records for these documents were much lower, highlighting their rising historical value.
"Since our founding, America has been on a journey to form a more perfect union. The Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment marked a profound step forward, abolishing the scourge of slavery and advancing the ideal that all people are created equal."
The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the US in 1865, freeing an estimated 4 million people after more than a century of the cruel institution.
The manuscript that sold at Sotheby's was a congressional copy and one of only 15 known versions signed by Lincoln, the driving force behind having the amendment passed and ratified.
Only four such examples of the Thirteenth Amendment remain in private hands, according to Sotheby's.
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