Five years ago, Logan Paul made headlines by setting a world record with his $5.275 million purchase of a Pokémon card. The move ultimately paid off in spectacular fashion, as the influencer and professional wrestler later sold the same card for an astonishing $16.492 million—complete with the diamond-encrusted necklace that famously displayed it.
The ultra-rare Pikachu Illustrator card—one of only 39 produced for a Pokémon illustration contest in the late 1990s—went under the hammer at Goldin on Monday. After auction fees, the sale is believed to have netted the WWE star more than $8 million in profit, a result he described as “absolutely insane.” The auction ran for 42 days before finally closing Monday night after hours of extended bidding, with Logan Paul joking during a YouTube livestream that “we may have tired someone out. “Oh my gosh, this is crazy,” he said as the final bid locked in and confetti fell to mark the moment.
Shortly afterward, a Guinness World Records official appeared on screen to confirm that Paul had officially sold the most expensive trading card ever at auction. This time, the card was housed inside a custom necklace that Paul famously wore at WrestleMania 38—and he pledged to personally hand-deliver it to the winning bidder.
Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise in the world, eclipsing even The Walt Disney Company and Star Wars. Over the past two decades, Pokémon cards have surged in value—outperforming sports cards and even beating the S&P stock market by 3,000%, according to Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin. He made the remarks in December after Logan confirmed plans to auction the card. Ken Goldin described the Illustrator as “the holy grail of all Pokémon cards,” noting that Paul’s copy is especially coveted because of its near-perfect condition. In fact, it is the only Illustrator card to receive a Grade 10 from authentication authority Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA).
As bidding wrapped up Monday, the price initially stalled at $6.882 million before a surge of last-minute offers during hours of extended bidding pushed the final total to $16.492 million, reached after 97 bids. Logan Paul is known for taking collectibles to extraordinary heights, spending millions to acquire some of the rarest items ever produced—including NFTs, the unique, blockchain-verified digital assets that have surged in popularity in recent years.
Logan Paul, the WWE wrestling star, said farewell to the card in a Saturday Instagram post, writing, “Goodbye my friend. What a privilege it’s been to be the owner of the greatest collectible in the world.”
The Pikachu Illustrator is one of just 20 cards ever graded by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). Paul acquired the ultra-rare Grade 10 card in July 2021 by trading a PSA Grade 9 Pikachu Illustrator he already owned—valued at $1.275 million—along with $4 million in cash. Of all the Pikachu Illustrator cards, only eight have earned a PSA Grade 9, making Paul’s sale the only PSA Grade 10—PSA’s highest and most coveted grading tier.
