Logan Paul's Pikachu Illustrator Card Sells for Record $16.49 Million

Logan Paul has officially sold his PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card for $16.49 million through Goldin Auctions , smashing the previous record for the most expensive trading card ever sold. The sale wrapped up after a marathon 41-day auction that concluded with frenzied extended bidding on Monday.

The influencer and WWE star originally bought the card back in 2021 for $5.275 million. That purchase itself was a Guinness World Record at the time . Paul walked away with more than $8 million in profit after auction fees, having more than tripled his initial investment in under five years.

AJ Scaramucci, son of former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci and founder of Solari Capital, placed the winning bid . The final hammer price hit $13.3 million before the 24% buyer's premium pushed the total past $16 million.

Why This Card Commands Millions

The Pikachu Illustrator ranks as the holy grail among Pokémon card collectors, with only 39 copies ever officially distributed . These cards were awarded to winners of illustration contests hosted by CoroCoro Comic magazine in Japan between 1997 and 1998 . Contest participants submitted original Pokémon artwork, and top illustrators received this exclusive prize.

Paul's copy stands alone as the only Pikachu Illustrator graded PSA 10, achieving a perfect Gem Mint rating . Eight cards received PSA Grade 9 ratings, but none match the flawless condition of Paul's specimen.

The artwork came from Atsuko Nishida, the original character designer of Pikachu for the Game Boy video games . The card features distinctive elements like the "Illustrator" header instead of the standard "Trainer" designation, a pen icon representing the creative contest theme, and the double-star rarity symbol reserved for the rarest Japanese cards.

Paul's Marketing Strategy Pays Off

Paul didn't just buy an expensive card and lock it away. He commissioned an $80,000 custom diamond necklace to house the card, wearing it during his WWE debut at WrestleMania 38 . That spectacle exposed millions of wrestling fans to the card's existence and helped cement its status as a pop culture artefact beyond the trading card hobby.

The necklace was included in the auction lot, adding to the package's appeal for potential buyers.

Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin Auctions, described the card as the most coveted trading card in the world . During a December interview, Goldin noted that Pokémon cards have beaten the S&P stock market by 3,000% in the past 20 years .

The Buyer's Ambitious Plans

Scaramucci appeared on Paul's livestream after securing the card. He described himself as being on a planetary treasure hunt and launching a website called TreasureTrove.com to document his quest to collect the world's treasures . The site carries the tagline "Collecting the uncollectible."

Scaramucci stated his ambitions extend beyond Pokémon cards, with plans to acquire a T-Rex dinosaur fossil and ultimately the Declaration of Independence . He framed the Pikachu Illustrator purchase as just the beginning of this endeavour.

Controversy Shadows the Sale

The record-breaking sale arrives amid ongoing scrutiny of Paul's business ventures. The Ontario Securities Commission accused Liquid Marketplace, a fractional ownership platform Paul co-founded, of operating as a multi-layered fraud . The regulator alleged that executives illegally diverted approximately $3 million of more than $10 million raised from investors for personal enrichment .

Paul offered fractional ownership of the Pikachu Illustrator through Liquid Marketplace. In December 2025, Paul announced he had bought back the card in May 2024 for a substantial buyout amount intended to be distributed to fractional owners .

Social media reactions to the sale split sharply. Some fans on X suggested that Liquid Marketplace investors should file a class action lawsuit, noting their collective $2.5 million contribution would have increased 5x at the sale price .

Others celebrated the sale as validation of Pokémon cards as legitimate investment assets. One commenter wrote they would buy the card if possible and resell it in 2030 for double the price.

Breaking Multiple Records

The sale surpasses the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant Logoman Autograph, which sold for $12.9 million in 2025 . Guinness World Records officially certified the sale as the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.

The auction started at $500,000 on January 6. Bids gradually rose to around $6 million as the deadline approached before a rush of final offers pushed the price to its record-breaking level .

Paul promoted the card's cultural significance by producing a YouTube mini-documentary about his 2021 acquisition that has garnered more than 10 million views .

The combination of extreme rarity, perfect grading, celebrity ownership and mainstream media attention transformed this card from a niche collectible into a globally recognised status symbol. Whether it was worth $16.49 million remains subjective, but one thing's clear: someone thought so.