Patrick Gruhn, the former head of FTX Europe, has paid about $1.5 million, “the largest sum ever spent at auction on a piece of Titanic memorabilia,” for a gold pocket watch discovered from the body of the Titanic’s richest passenger, The Wall Street Journal said.
The watch belonged to American property billionaire John Jacob Astor IV, who was returning from a European honeymoon with his expectant wife, Madeleine Astor.
When the Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912, an officer told Astor he couldn’t join his wife on a lifeboat until all women and children were safe. A week later, Astor's belongings, including a 14-karat "gold watch, cuff links gold and diamond, diamond ring," and a "gold pencil," were discovered in the sea with his body.
Gruhn stated that he purchased the watch for his wife, Maren Gruhn, using proceeds from the sale of his businesses, and that the watch will be on exhibit in museums.
In July 2023, the bankruptcy estate of FTX requested an award from a U.S. bankruptcy court to recover over $323.5 million from the Europe leadership of FTX. Gruhn and other parties later consented to repurchase FTX's European assets for approximately $33 million as part of a settlement. Grohn indicated that prior to the FTX scam collapsing, he was unaware of it.
Following the collapse of FTX in November 2022, Gruhn relocated to Oregon, where he currently operates a German Catholic TV network and is working towards establishing a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange in Europe.
May 2024, Cryptoniteuae