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Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Didn’t Buy $32M T-Rex Fossil, Did Perform Paleontology Dunk On Instagram

Dwayne Johnson has the right idea.

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Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur

(Image via Getty)

Very rich people are accumulating wealth more quickly than ever before. This translates into a lot of the stuff that very wealthy people like to purchase, from NFTs to luxury real estate, flying off the metaphorical shelves.

When one thinks about the highest-end status symbols, perhaps the partial remains of long-dead creatures do not immediately come to mind. But maybe they should. I’ve written several times myself about how private fossil sales have become extremely lucrative, to the point where there is even a substantial black market.

Prices seem to be increasing. In 2019, a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was available online for just under $3 million.  The famous “dueling dinosaurs” sold for an undisclosed sum quite some time after their value was estimated at $7 million. And, in 2020, the 39-foot T. rex specimen known as “Stan” sold at auction for a record $31.8 million — the most ever paid for a fossil.

Stan, named after its discoverer Stan Sacrison, is one of the most complete T. rex specimens ever found, and scientists were horrified to see Stan go into private hands for what paleontologist David Evans described as “an astronomical price that borders on absurdity.” No longer available for scientists to study, or for the public to view, almost no one knows what became of Stan. Whoever purchased this dinosaur remains comfortably anonymous.

However, a few days ago the internet went bananas when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gave a video interview from his home office with a pretty recognizable Tyrannosaurus rex skull in the background. Was Johnson Stan’s mysterious purchaser?

Well, tantalizing though this possibility might have been, given that Dwayne Johnson probably has the requisite funds and is obviously a paleontology enthusiast, it turns out that The Rock is not the one who got Stan for a cool $31.8 million. “In my home office, this is my REPLICA CAST of STAN that I had made and purchased from my friends at The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research and Paleontological Excavations,” Johnson explained on Instagram. After discussing Stan’s history and the sale that placed the dinosaur in the custody of a private buyer, Johnson added, “My love, respect, fascination and curiosity for paleontological & archeological science runs deep — and if I was the proud owner of the real STAN, I sure as hell wouldn’t keep him in my office…I’d keep him in a museum, so the world could enjoy, study and learn from him.” That’s a pretty mature and nuanced take.

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Of course, the whole Stan situation is just heinously complicated, like anything involving millions of dollars. The Black Hills Institute is the private entity that sold the original Stan specimen in the first place. It was only pursuant to a court order though: a judge ruled in 2018 that Stan had to be auctioned so as to pay off Neal Larson for his stake in the Institute. Neal Larson sued the company back in 2015, seeking to liquidate its assets as part of a bitter business dispute. Paleontologist Pete Larson (who is Neal Larson’s brother and president of the Institute) said at the time of the sale, “We were saddened to learn that the winner of the auction was probably not a museum, but we are hopeful that the new owner will eventually put STAN on display so the public will be able to continue to see and study this awesome original skeleton.” The Black Hills Institute did retain the rights to make and market future casts of Stan’s bones, which is presumably how Dwayne Johnson acquired his replica.

Hopefully Stan’s new owner does eventually come up with a more altruistic use for this unique natural treasure. While private fossil hunters have a bit of a point about incentivizing people to make new discoveries through use of the free-market reward structure, no nonbillionaire seems especially happy about it when rare dinosaur remains with tremendous scientific value end up adorning some rich person’s cavernous foyer.

Dwayne Johnson has the right idea though. High-quality casts are just as impressive as décor as original dinosaur skeletons, and science is always in need of more celebrity supporters. Therefore, if Dwayne Johnson wants to change his nickname from “The Rock” to “The Fossil,” he would certainly have earned that right (although less-buff fellow paleontology buffs will understand if he’d rather not).

Jonathan Wolf is a civil litigator and author of Your Debt-Free JD (affiliate link). He has taught legal writing, written for a wide variety of publications, and made it both his business and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless solely his own and should not be attributed to any organization with which he is affiliated. He wouldn’t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at jon_wolf@hotmail.com.

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