David Rubenstein (picture left, credit: Justin Lane/EPA), who once was a domestic policy advisor to former president Jimmy Carter, is a co-founder of the Washington-based Carlyle Group private equity firm. He was instantly catapulted to the international fame by paying US$21.3m (a compromised price of $30M early estimated) for a 13th-century Magna Carta [wikipedia] auctioned at Sotheby's in New York yesterday December 18. This is the first time a copy of the historical charter has been sold by public auction. Mr. David Rubenstein will remain the 800-year-old law document on public display by loaning to US National Archives.
This only copy in US which was presented by British WII Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the Americas was issued in 1297 by King Edward I, when the Magna Carta formally became part of English law, more than 80 years after it was written. It is one of only 17 in existence and the only one in private ownership.
Source: Guardian; Link to more backgrounds on the write-up of Magna Carta. #Tags: David Rubenstein, magna carta, sotheby's auction, freedom, human rights, lawsuit, constitution