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The fantastically wealthy have always splashed out on lavish commodities – limited edition sports cars, bottles of wine that belonged to various founding fathers, maybe the occasional Rothko. But one particular investment, 66 million years in the making, has seen its popularity among super-wealthy buyers skyrocket, proving that millionaires do in fact move in herds.

The price of dinosaur fossils sold at private auctions has been soaring since 1997, when a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named "Sue" sold for almost $8.4 million -- equivalent to around $14.5 million in today's dollars. Before the sale of Sue, most fossils went for a maximum of around $200,000. Fast-forward to 2020, when another T. rex, named "Stan," sold for a gargantuan $31.8 million, more than doubling the 1997 price even adjusted for inflation. But is the fossilized bone mania sustainable? Or are we staring at a potential extinction level event?

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Source Fool.com