The new date is Dec 6, 2021.
A hedge fund billionaire and one of the world's largest ancient art collectors agreed to an "unprecedented" lifetime ban from collecting antiquities and surrendered 180 pieces of stolen artwork worth $70 million following a multi-year investigation that spanned multiple countries.
Michael Steinhardt, chairman of WisdomTree Investments Inc., speaks before a television interview in New York. Photographer: Scott Eells.
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The District Attorney found compelling evidence that 180 pieces were stolen from their country of origin, and began investigating Steinhardt's role in the acquisition, possession and sale of more than 1,000 antiquities.
Steinhardt agreed to a lifetime ban from acquiring more antiquities and to return the 180 antiquities that were deemed to be stolen.
Steinhardt relied on crime bosses, money launderers and tomb raiders to expand his collection, according to a report.
Steinhardt was pleased that the investigation did not result in any charges and that the items that were taken will be returned to their native countries, according to Andrew J. Levander and Theodore V. Wells Jr., Steinhardt's attorneys.
Steinhardt and the District Attorney's office reached an agreement that will end the grand jury investigation, meaning Steinhardt will not be criminally prosecuted in the case.
The agreement will avoid a trial so that pieces can be returned to their owners quickly, rather than being held as evidence for years, and to avoid over-burdening resource-scarce nations who would have been called as witnesses to the trial.
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Steinhardt bought a statue of a bull's head that had been stolen from Lebanon during the Civil War and then lent it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was the subject of a criminal investigation. The bull's head and a second statue were returned to Lebanon at the end of the year. The district attorney's office continued to investigate Steinhardt's collection of antiquities and conducted joint investigations with authorities in many countries. According to the district attorney's office, 171 pieces were determined to have been in the possession of antiquities traffickers, who acquired them following civil unrest or loot.
The quote is crucial.
Steinhardt viewed the artifacts as simple commodities. He failed to respect that these treasures represent the heritage of cultures around the world from which these items were taken, often during times of unrest, according to a press release from the New York acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations.
The number is big.
There is a sum of $1.2 billion. According to the billionaire tracker, Steinhardt has a net worth of that amount.
Michael Steinhardt surrendered 180 stolen antiquities valued at $70 million.
Michael Steinhardt, Wall Street's greatest trader, is back and reinventing investing again.
