Hedge funds trump museums in bid for luxury liner’s artifacts
Portion of the collection is on display at the Luxor
Some of the richest people in the world lost everything when the Titanic sank. Now a consortium of new-money risk takers is poised to profit from turn-ofthe-20th-century artifacts that curators had hoped to claim.
Three hedge funds banded together to submit a $19.5 million bid to buy the oncelost treasures of the ocean liner, thwarting a group of British museums backed by the National Geographic Society and James Cameron, who directed the 1997 movie “Titanic.” The museums could muster only $19.2 million and withdrew this month.
The new owners — Apollo Global Management, Alta Fundamental Advisers and Pacbridge Capital Partners — said they would keep the collection intact as a tourist draw but declined to comment further.
Theirs is an evocative, sobering and mesmerizing haul.
The 5,500 items recovered from 2 miles below the surface in international waters off Newfoundland are remnants of a gilded era: a bowler hat, the crusty leather folds of a once-sumptuous Gladstone bag and the dark, sleek curves of a bronze angel that graced the post of a staircase.
Part of the collection is on display at the Luxor in Las Vegas.
The objects are “time capsules that take you back to 1912,” said Kevin Fewster, director of Royal Museums Greenwich, which was part of the museum bid. “It’s this complete section of humanity and society.”
A door to first class
First-class passengers boarded through a steel door, which was recovered in 1998. Once past its threshold, passengers would ride elevators to higher floors, where they could wave farewell to people on the pier below.
“First-class passengers had their own way in,” said Eric Kentley, the author of “Discover the Titanic,” who took part in a 1994 expedition to the wreck. “Class is a big part of the Titanic story.”
The ship was a microcosm of Edwardian class structure, said Paul Burns, a member of the board at the Titanic Historical Society.
“It was a Royal Mail steamer and an immigration ship,” he explained. “Among the third class and even second class
Work starts on new pedestrian bridge for Las Vegas Strip.
The $16.9 million project is being constructed between Park MGM and the Showcase Mall.
Dave Dave, who was set afire as boy, died of natural causes.
Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said in a statement Monday that the artist born David Rothenberg died July 15 of sepsis due to pneumonia. He was 42.
Obama at Vegas rally: ‘Jacky Rosen believes health care is not a privilege for the few.’
Former President Barack Obama also urged young people to vote in next month’s midterms.
Boy, 4, killed in central Las Vegas crosswalk in ‘another senseless death.’
Monday’s fatality occurred on Maryland Parkway and Katie Avenue, said Capt. Nick Farese, who described the episode as “another senseless death.”
It’s due in large part to the fact the Martin twins, Caleb and Cody, and Jordan Caroline will return for their senior season after last year’s NCAA Sweet 16 run.
UNR’S No. 7 ranking in preseason Top 25 poll is best ever.