David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, held a coming out party at the National Archives on Monday with his newest acquisition — a copy of the Magna Carta from the year 1297.
Rubenstein paid $21.3 million for the document in a Sotheby’s auction — a 2,000 percent profit for seller and former presidential candidate Ross Perot.
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Perot had lent it to the archives on a permanent basis, but when his foundation opted to sell it to pay for medical research commitments, the archives feared it could be lost. “Mr. Rubenstein rushed back from Europe … when he heard of the auction,” said Allen Weinstein, archivist of the United States.
Rubenstein assured those present, however, that he has no intention of displaying the document — encased in glass and argon gas — as “some sort of trophy.” He’ll be leaving it where it is.
“He has expressed interest in being kept up to date on its condition … but he has a lot of faith in the archives’ care and maintenance of it,” said exhibit conservator Susan Cooper.
“I hope that this in some way repays the country which has … enabled a man from my modest beginnings to purchase a document like this,” said Rubenstein.
The 1297 version of the document —which guaranteed British nobles rights over the king — was the first to carry the force of law in Britain. Rubenstein’s copy is one of only four 1297 copies in existence.
