Autograph collecting is most commonly associated with sports legends or historical figures.
But just as collectors will happily empty their wallets for a George Washington-signed document or Babe Ruth-autographed baseball, autographs from modern business titans have emerged as hot commodities.
Items signed by Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger sold for a combined $74,289 on Wednesday night at RR Auctions, led by a Jobs-signed page from a seminar guide that sold for $23,750.
RR Auctions has led the way in the market for Jobs and Apple memorabilia amid its rapid rise in recent years, but as of late, other business moguls have attracted increasing interest in the memorabilia world.
For Buffett and Munger — both of whom signed a piece of paper which fetched $15,115 in Wednesday's auction — their autographs are not exceptionally rare. Berkshire Hathaway-related documents with autographs from one of the two investors are somewhat common (an annual report signed by Buffett sold for $5,000 in 2021).
However, for those who earned their fortune and fame in the modern era, autographs are quite hard to come by.
As RR Auctions executive vice president Bobby Livingston explained, the shift from letter writing and physical checks to digital communication has made current entrepreneurs’ signatures even rarer.
Not to mention the mechanics necessary to actually receive an autograph from one of these people in person.
“The accessibility just isn’t there,” Livingston said. “It’s not like another typical celebrity. You can’t just walk into your boss’ boss’ boss’ office and ask for an autograph.”
Take Bezos, for example. A piece of paper with his autograph and inscription (“Customers rule”), printed over with an image of his business card, sold for more than $8,600 Wednesday night. The sale set a record for any Bezos cut autograph, behind only sales for a signed stock certificate ($10,000) and a handwritten letter outlining plans for Amazon’s future to an investor ($15,000).
How would one go about obtaining an autograph from Bezos given the fact he's surrounded by security and rarely seen in public?
The rarity of his autograph plays a huge role in its value, driving high prices for otherwise unremarkable pieces.
Of course, rarity alone does not make a market. These men have all become celebrities with cult followings of their own, much like an athlete. There’s a fascination with American industrialists, dating back to names such as Carnegie and Rockefeller, which continues today, Livingston says. “They have become these mythical figures in our lifetimes.”
RR has previously sold a Musk-signed business card for nearly $40,000. A 1:18 die-cast scale model of the Tesla Model S P100D with his autograph sold for more than $8,000 Wednesday.
Musk made headlines in 2022 when he said he would not be signing any autographs ever again. However, it is unclear if he has remained true to his word.
Asked @sama to sign my laptop
— Allen Naliath (@AllenNaliath) April 25, 2024
How much is this worth now? pic.twitter.com/7k2kH5UuFt
Veteran collector Simeon Lipman attributes much of the growing interest in collecting tech titans to the massive cultural and societal relevance.
"Unlike decades past, where the founders and CEOs of companies were sort of faceless names you read in the Wall Street Journal, these guys today are ubiquitous and arguably the most famous faces on the planet," Lipman said.
One of the newcomers to the auction world, Altman, had a photo with his signature sell for $723. These appear to be far more plentiful than any of his peers’ signatures. In April, Stanford student Allen Naliath asked Altman to sign his laptop, to which the pioneer in artificial intelligence obliged.
Naliath told cllct he paid $5k for the “maxed-out” MacBook M2 Max, yet was still more than happy to add an autograph from a hero.
Jobs remains the unequivocal leader in the pack, due to his famous refusal to sign autographs during his lifetime, with few exceptions (including one letter in which he replied to an autograph request, "I'm honored that you'd write, but I'm afraid I don't sign autographs," followed by his signature, which sold for $479,939).
While Jobs was certainly of the era of paper documents, the number of his signed checks are shockingly low. Over the years, RR has sold around a dozen — ranging in price from $31,246 to a record $176,850 for the third-ever Apple check.
The leaders who are shaping the modern world, amassing historic wealth and power in the process, have become far more than simply business executives. Collectors see them more and more as cultural figures of the sort they deem more than worthy for their collection.
“How can you have a complete autograph collection without Bezos, Musk and Jobs, in your collection?” Livingston asked.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.