Stamp sale by Pimcos Gross raises $9.1 million for charity
Published June 12th, 2007
Early British stamps featuring a young Queen Victoria and owned by billionaire fund manager Bill Gross sold for record prices at auction today in New York.
The morning and afternoon sales totaled $9.1 million, doubling estimates. The 63-year-old Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, and his wife, Sue, have designated all proceeds from the auction as an unrestricted gift to Doctors Without Borders.
The donation is the largest ever received by Doctors Without Borders, known internationally as Medecins Sans Frontieres. Founded in 1971, it’s an independent medical organization that delivers emergency aid in more than 70 countries.
Gross, who was at Shreves Philatelic Galleries Inc. in midtown Manhattan for the afternoon sale, said that he bought the stamps for about $2.5 million, mostly since 2000. He decided to sell them to aid the charity and to gauge the market for stamps, in which he’s one of the largest U.S. collectors. He estimates he’s spent between $50 million and $100 million collecting.
“It’s beyond my expectations,” he said of the day’s results. “It’s four times profit. It’s better than the stock market.”
Gross is co-founder and chief investment officer of Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co.
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