Last week, social media influencer and wrestler Logan Paul made headlines by auctioning a rare Pokémon card for a staggering $16.5 million, setting a new world record for an auctioned trading card. The winning bidder, AJ Scaramucci, son of prominent investor and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, sees the 'Pikachu Illustrator' card as a valuable investment. This card, produced in 1998, is one of only a few dozen known to exist.
For Scaramucci, who founded Solari Capital, this acquisition marks a significant milestone in his brief yet burgeoning career as a collector, which began amidst the COVID-19 pandemic with trading cards. "I mean, Picassos are great," he remarked in an interview regarding the card's significance. "But Pokémon means way more than just a Picasso painting to people." Following his victory, Scaramucci referred to this purchase as the initial step in a 'planetary treasure hunt,' where he and his younger brother plan to amass a collection of scarce, real-world assets across varied categories.
The trading card market has surged dramatically in recent years. According to Card Ladder, a firm that tracks trading card sales and prices, the monthly sales volume on the secondary market has nearly doubled over the last two years. EBay CEO Jamie Iannone highlighted, during an earnings call, that collectibles, particularly trading cards, were a major driver of the company's fourth-quarter merchandise volume growth.
Logan Paul initially purchased the Illustrator card in 2021 for about $5.3 million, which means he realized a profit of more than 200%. Card Ladder’s 'Pokémon index' has grown by 145% in the past year, far outpacing the S&P 500's 15.2% increase and Alphabet’s 73.4% rise. Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin Auctions, owned by eBay and responsible for the card's auction, remarked, "Especially in 2025, the growth has been astronomical. We have people who are buying solely either because they absolutely love it or they firmly believe that trading cards and collectibles are a legitimate alternative asset class."
Scaramucci, an advocate for both personal enjoyment and investment potential, spoke at the Skybridge Capital SALT New York 2021 conference about treating these cards as investments. "The compounded annual growth rate of these cards is out of control," he stated. "And they should be treated as investments because that's what they are. It's just obvious." He sees them as a 'debasement trade,' a strategy for investors worried about currency devaluation to shift their funds into hard assets. Viewing collectibles as an unconventional yet viable asset isn't new—other items like wine and art have been used for portfolio diversification in the past.