Wall Street Bond King Earns Hundreds of Billions in Side Income Thanks to This Hobby

Bill Gross, Pimco Co-Founder, Rare Stamp Auctioned
'Founding Father of the US' Imprinted... Worth Up to 6.9 Billion KRW
'Collector'... Sold Stamps Worth Hundreds of Billions to Create Gallery

The rare stamp collection of Bill Gross, co-founder of PIMCO and known as the 'Bond King' of Wall Street, is going up for auction. On the 8th (local time), the British daily Financial Times (FT) reported, "Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries in New York will auction the stamp collection submitted by Gross on the 14th and 15th." The total estimated hammer price of the stamp collection Gross has put up for auction is between $15 million and $20 million (approximately 20.7 billion to 27.6 billion KRW).

The 'Z-Grill' stamp put up for auction by Bill Gross, co-founder of Pimco. [Image source: Screenshot from Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries website]

The most notable stamp in the collection submitted by Gross this time is the 1-cent 'Z-Grill' stamp issued in 1868. This stamp, featuring Benjamin Franklin, one of the 'Founding Fathers' of the United States, currently has only two copies remaining. The other copy is held by the New York Public Library. According to investment media Penta, this stamp is regarded as "the most perfect and valuable piece" among his collection. Charles Shreve, director of Siegel Auction and Gross's stamp advisor, said, "It will be the most important rare stamp auction in a generation."

The estimated hammer price for this stamp is between $4 million and $5 million (approximately 5.5 billion to 6.9 billion KRW). Even if it sells at the lowest estimate of $4 million, it will surpass the record high price of $2 million set last year at a U.S. stamp auction for the 'Inverted Jenny.' The 'Inverted Jenny' is a 24-cent stamp issued in the U.S. in 1918, famous among stamp collectors for its printing error where the airplane in the center of the stamp is upside down. The world record price was set by a 1-cent magenta stamp issued in British Guiana in 1856, which sold for $8.3 million (about 10.9 billion KRW at the time) at a Sotheby's auction in the UK in 2021.

Bill Gross, co-founder of bond management company PIMCO.

Gross's interest in stamp collecting originated from his mother. It is said that his mother bought stamps in the 1930s and 1940s hoping to cover Gross's college tuition fees. When he tried to sell his mother's stamp collection, he was offered a low price, which sparked his interest in finding and purchasing stamps that could be better investments.

Known as a stamp enthusiast, Gross is estimated to have sold over $50 million (approximately 69 billion KRW) worth of stamps in recent years. He previously donated $10 million to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington D.C., establishing a gallery named after him. Gross said, "To me, collecting means creating order out of chaos."