From Violinist To Viral Online Star, This Auctioneer Sold A Stegosaurus Skeleton For Record Price

The internet is full of pretty much of everything. After all, it's the creation of humanity, populated by the billions of minds and opinions of its users.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, online auctions have become one of the sought-after voyeuristic entertainment. Where else can people find unique things being caught in bid wars by rich people.

And this time, a Stegosaurus has been sold at an auction.

Viewers online were captivated by a 15 minutes-long bidding war at Sotheby’s, before the largest fossil of its kind, was sold at a staggering $44.6 million.

While it's far from being the most expensive thing sold at an online auction, the Stegosaurus, named Apex, became the most expensive fossil it ever auctioned.

And this can be credited to Phyllis Kao, the auctioneer who helped drew millions of online spectators.

On the catalogue listing of the auction, Sotheby's said that:

The star is the Stegosaurus.

The dinosaur, considered to be a four-legged, armored and heavily-built herbivore, roamed the Earth in the Late Jurassic.

They are one of the most recognizable dinosaurs, thanks to their distinct kite-shaped upright plates on their backs and the spines on their tails, called the thagomizers.

And because of this, the depiction of the dinosaur has been featured in films, on postal stamps, and in many other types of media.

Their fossil have been found in places in the U.S. and also in Portugal. In all, these fossils are around 150 million years old.

And Apex is one of the most complete of the specimens.

Kao made it break record as the most valuable fossil ever sold at an auction.

Phyllis Kao, who is also the vice president for client strategy at Sotheby's, started the bidding at $3 million.

"Emily draws blood first," Kao said, as an early bid was at $3.8 million.

During this price escalating range, viewers were mesmerized by a 15-minute bidding war at Sotheby's.

At the helm of the gripping sales battle, Kao who wore an Armani jacket, with her dark hair twisted up and pinned back in a pony tail, steadily gazed bidders, who held phones to their ears, relaying offers for the fossils from buyers around the world.

"At $6 million, thank you, Simon Shaw," she said

"At $6 million, nice way to start."

Sotheby's expected the fossil to be sold at $4 million to $6 million.

"$13 million," she said, as the numbers climb.

"I’ll give you some time," she said, to which the bidders laughed.

Ku stood upright, amused.

Considering that it's also the largest of its kind ever found, Kao, the orchestral conductor, managed to help sell the specimen for more than 10 times that estimate.

It topped the previous sale record set for a fossil sold at auction, a Tyrannosaurus-Rex named “Stan,” for $31.8 million in 2020.

"Honestly, it was like an auctioneer’s paradise," Kao said in an interview. "There was tension. There was palpable excitement."

It's later realized that the buyer is Kenneth Griffin, a hedge fund billionaire.

"The winning bidder making a very late entrance was dramatic," Kao said. "And that’s not common, for someone to wait for so long."

"It is a historical and important moment, and an important specimen,” she said. “But at the end of the day, I do want to always be entertaining."

Being an auctioneer was perhaps one of the last things she had in mind when she was younger, because in her teenager years, she wanted to become a classical violinist.

But being an auctioneer is not a loss, because her passion is to perform in front of others, and succeed.

"I really carry that kind of performance mind-set when I stand in front of a crowd," she said.

Kao first joined Sotheby's in 2016, and it wasn't a good start. But fast forward, she shines.

Auction houses were once known as closed-door markets. But following COVID-19, and thanks to the internet, many auction houses live stream their auctions to viewers worldwide.

"Before COVID, you’d never see televised auctions," said Karina Sokolovsky, the chief communications officer for Sotheby’s.

Since then. these places have become places for voyeuristic entertainment, and here, Apex the Stegosaurus, breaks record thanks to its exceptional quality.

On TikTok, for example, Sotheyby's managed to receive millions of viewers during Kao's bid war.

Kao said that she received an "alarming" number of messages on Instagram the next day after auctioning off Apex.

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