Einstein's handwritten notes for the theory of relativity sold for a record 11 million euros at an auction in Paris on Tuesday.
The manuscript was valued at a quarter of the final sum, which is the highest price ever paid for a work by a genius scientist.
The theory of general relativity was published in 1915.
Christie's, which handled the sale on behalf of the Aguttes auction house, had estimated that the Einstein manuscript would sell for two to three million euros.
The previous records for Einstein's works were US$2.8 million for the so-called "God letter" in 2018, and US$1.56 million for a letter about the secret to happiness.
The bids opened at 1.5 million euros and went past the estimate.
After a few minutes there were only two people left, and they were competing over the phone.
There was no information about the winner.
Around 100 people turned up for the sale, but no one made a bid.
There is a section of the manuscript. Alain Jocard is a journalist.
It was almost like a miracle.
Einstein and his friend and colleague, Swiss engineer Michele Besso, wrote the document in 1913 and 1914.
The manuscript was preserved for future use, according to Christie's.
This was "almost like a miracle" since the German-born genius himself would have been unlikely to hold on to the document, Christie's said.
The paper today offers a fascinating plunge into the mind of the 20th century's greatest scientist.
His theory of general relativity was built on his theory of special relativity from 1905.
Einstein died in 1955 at the age of 76.
New ways of looking at the movement of objects in space and time were introduced by his theories.
One of the problems that had been troubling the scientific community for decades was the anomaly of the planet Mercury's elliptical shape.
There are a number of undetected errors in the initial manuscript.
The paper was taken away by Besso after Einstein spotted them.
Christie's said that scientific documents by Einstein were extremely rare before 1919.
It is an extraordinary witness to Einstein's work that the manuscript is one of only two that document the beginnings of general relativity.
Einstein won the physics prize in 1921.
He became a pop culture icon thanks to his dry witticisms and bushy hair.
Agence France-Presse.
