New York hedge fund billionaire and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt has handed over $70 million worth of antiquities after a criminal probe found the items he had acquired were stolen.
Steinhardt, who is one of the world’s largest ancient art collectors, agreed to surrender the 180 items to avoid facing any criminal charges, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said on Monday.
As part of the deal, Steinhardt is also subject to an unprecedented lifetime ban on acquiring any more antiquities.
Vance said his probe, which started in February 2017, found “compelling evidence” that 180 of the antiquities Steinhardt had in his possession had been stolen from 11 countries including Egypt, Greece, Israel, Syria and Turkey.
At least 171 of the items had passed through traffickers before Steinhardt purchased them, Vance added.
Among the items Steinhardt handed over to authorities was the Stag’s Head Rhyton — a drinking vessel dating from 400 BC that’s worth an estimated $3.5 million today.
It was believed to have been stolen during rampant looting in Milas, Turkey, in the 1990s.
The Larnax, a small chest for human remains from the Greek island of Crete, was also among the items Steinhardt had acquired.
That item, which dates to between 1400 and 1200 BC, is valued at about $1 million.
Vance said that when Steinhardt was asked during the probe for provenance documentation for a different stolen antiquity, the billionaire pointed to the Larnax and told an investigator: “You see this piece? There’s no provenance for it. If I see a piece and I like it, then I buy it.”
Prosecutors said many of the pieces Steinhardt acquired were stolen from their countries of origin during times of war or civil unrest.
All of the stolen items will be returned to their countries of origin, Vance said.
“For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artifacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold, or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe,” Vance said in a statement.
“His pursuit of ‘new’ additions to showcase and sell knew no geographic or moral boundaries, as reflected in the sprawling underworld of antiquities traffickers, crime bosses, money launderers, and tomb raiders he relied upon to expand his collection.”
In a statement issued by his attorneys, Steinhardt said he was “pleased that the District Attorney’s years-long investigation has concluded without any charges.”
He added that the “items wrongfully taken by others will be returned to their native countries.”
Steinhardt — a leading Jewish philanthropist who is worth $1.2 billion, according to Forbes — co-founded Birthright Israel, an organization that provides a free trip to Israel to young Jewish people.
