Logan Paul just made millions off a Pokémon card.
The influencer turned wrestler sold his one-of-one Pikachu Illustrator card — one of 41 ever distributed and the only one graded the highest quality by collectibles company PSA — at auction Monday for a jaw-dropping $16.492 million.
The winner? AJ Scaramucci, the founder of venture capital firm Solari Capital and the son of former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
Scaramucci appeared on Logan Paul’s livestream early Monday after auction house Goldin announced him the winning bidder in the auction, which closed at 1:14 am ET.
“My ambition for the card is just a small story,” Scaramucci said at the event. “The real story is that I’m on a planetary treasure hunt. I’m planning to buy a T. rex dinosaur fossil, the Declaration of Independence, and I’m not stopping there. This is only the beginning.”
“You’re just starting?” Paul replied. “Bro. Bro, that is so epic.”
Paul also used the livestream to open packs of Pokémon cards and announce RipIt, a new collectibles business he’s launching.
Goldin
In a statement, Goldin described the Pokémon card, which was originally given to winners of an illustration competition in Japan, as “one of the Holy Grails of the collectibles industry.”
Paul previously set the world record back in July 2021 when he purchased the same card for $5.275 million, meaning he will make millions in profit.
The card also came with a diamond-encrusted chain appraised at $75,000, Goldin said. Paul wore the card during his WWE debut at WrestleMania 38 in 2022.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Paul bid farewell to the card.
“Goodbye my friend 😢 What a privilege it’s been to be the owner of the greatest collectible in the world,” he wrote.
The markets for Pokémon cards, along with other collectible card sets like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!, have become huge in recent years among collectors — especially Gen Z — with the rarest cards selling for tens of thousands of dollars, if not more.
Some people are even forgoing stocks and investing in Pokémon cards instead.
