Logan Paul Sells Rare Pokémon Card For $16.5m
Logan Paul has sold an ultra-rare Pokémon trading card for a record-breaking $16.5m (£12m), making it the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.
The sale was confirmed by auction house Goldin, which said the final price – including buyer’s premium – reached $16.492m. A Guinness World Records adjudicator later verified the sale as a new world record.
The card, known as a Pikachu Illustrator, is widely regarded as the rarest Pokémon card in existence. Issued in 1998 as a prize in a Japanese illustration contest, only about 40 are believed to remain. Paul’s copy is the sole example to have received a perfect grade from Professional Sports Authenticator, which rated it a 10, meaning it is considered virtually flawless.
Paul originally acquired the card in 2021 for $5.3m (£3.9m), a record purchase at the time. Speaking during a live YouTube broadcast as the auction concluded, he described the result as “absolutely insane”.
The winning bidder was venture capitalist AJ Scaramucci, the son of financier and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. AJ Scaramucci said the card marked the first acquisition in what he called a personal “treasure hunt”, aimed at collecting historically significant and rare items.
The sale was featured in the latest season of Netflix’s King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch, where Goldin founder Ken Goldin encouraged Paul to part with the card amid soaring interest in Pokémon collectibles.
Trading cards tied to the Japanese franchise have surged in value in recent years, fuelled by nostalgia and increased interest from high-end collectors.
Paul has said the sale would help fund major life expenses, including his wedding to Danish model Nina Agdal. The couple married in a lavish ceremony at Lake Como in August 2025.
Despite the sale, Paul has previously described himself as a collector rather than a reseller, though he acknowledged that the record-breaking deal offered a timely boost in liquidity.
